Wishful Thinking
by phoenixflameangel
Summary: Laiss falls in love for the very first time in her life. Unfortunately he's a fictional character. Or is he? THIS STORY IS RATED MA FOR FUTURE VERY ADULT CONTENT! Sorry the summary sucks I'm no good at summaries!
1. and here we go

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Joker or Batman or anything of that related nature. I own NOTHING in this story except for the name of the main female character and the idea of the story. Any and all names or places depicted here are purely coincidental and I claim no ownership over such names or places.

Ok now that the pesky little disclaimer is out of the way….

Ok I absolutely LOVE the joker. Who doesn't right?! And as a tribute to that movie and the character and Heath Ledger (R.I.P) I figured I'd write a little story. I have no clue how long this is going to be really. I have no idea quite where I'm going with it. I have a pretty good idea. Oh and I need a betareader. If you would like to be that for me please message me.

This is my first story EVER. Please be gentle with the reviews  I'm new at this. NO FLAMES!! Please R&R so I know what how I'm doing. I don't mind constructive criticism at all. I love to improve on my work! PLEASEEEE let me know if he goes out of character. He will have to go out of character from time to time, but let me know if its way out there or for too long.

_**Laiss: **_Oh for the love of GOD why did you make me such a fluff in this story Phoenix!!

_**JOKER: **_you uh _are_ a fluff….

_**Laiss: **_RRRRRGGGGG!! I AM NOT DAMN YOU!! I'LL SHOW YOU FLUFF!! (kicks Joker in the shin)

_**JOKER:**_ ( grunts) _ohhh he he he oh ha ha ha ahhh_…you're gonna _regret_ that you little….(pulls out knife and walks slowly at Laiss.)

_**Laiss: **_(giggles wildly and runs)

_**Phoenix(author):**_ oh for heaven's SAKES you two!! its just the beginning of the damn story sheesh there is PLENTY of time for character expansion. I swear there is no pleasing some people!!

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CHAPTER ONE-And here we go.

Lights were flashing….but why? Where was I? I can't remember much…

But I can feel pain, excruciating pain. What's happening? Am I dreaming? Am I dead?

I hear voices…screaming voices. I can't make them out…what are they saying? I hear the horrifying sounds of metal being cut. I try to open my eyes to see what's going on but I can't, I'm too weak. I can smell gasoline mixed with the smell of coconut car freshener. There's a terrible taste in my mouth and down the back of my throat.

What happened to me? The voices are becoming clearer and more distinct. I hear a man's voice gently trying to soothe me.

"It's ok miss….you're gonna be alright. Just hang on!" he heavily calls to me.

I become more coherent as the sounds of the metal being cut grows louder. The pain is unbearable and I'm starting to shake. What has happened to me? What the hell is going on??

More voices….louder now in harmony with the sounds of numerous vehicle engines growling in the background. The pain….the pain is so intense. The noise of the metal being cut stops, and I hear the man talk to me again.

"Just hold still, we'll have you out of there in a second. Just hold on!" He says softly as he starts shuffling around.

More voices come in to the chorus of noises.

"We have to lift it off very carefully we aren't sure how badly she's injured." The man that has been talking says to someone.

Injured? How? How have I been injured? I can't remember.

"Alright it looks like its going to be pretty easy to move lets just get it off and get her moved out before this thing goes." Another voice….different but still a man's voice.

On my left arm I feel slight movement and the pain intensifies. I moan and hear them telling each other easy and to be careful and telling me that I'm going to ok. My left arm drops and I feel a rush of cool air. Hands reach in and grab something laying across my chest. My seatbelt. I was driving. I've been in a car accident. But how? I feel something jerking the seatbelt around and then it comes loose. I feel more hands gently trying to move the seatbelt away from me.

"You're going to be ok now." I hear the first mans voice gently talking in my ear. "Help me here John!" I hear him call to someone else.

Hands come across me and under me to gently lift me out of my seat. I groan loudly as they try to delicately lift me out of the vehicle. The pain stays constant and that to me must be a good sign, its not intensifying.

My body is lifted up by three different sets of hands and laid down flat on a soft surface. I must be on a stretcher. Three sets of hands are now strapping me in and checking me over. I hear them talking to each other frantically. Sirens. I hear radios…police radios. More voices. A mask is put over my face and gently slipped behind my head.

"Breath you're going to be ok….." The man from the beginning says to me as I'm being lifted up on the stretcher and I feel them walking.

The engine noises are louder now, and I feel them stop and drop the wheels from under the stretcher and wheel me up into an ambulance I assume.

Doors shut down near my feet. Sensing someone near me, I try to open my eyes. They flutter for just a brief second and I see a man's shape under the brilliant lights above me. He's wearing dark blue clothes, and has very light colored hair. More doors slam and the engine gets louder then we start moving down the road. I hear the sirens start from the vehicle I'm in.

"Try to stay calm honey, its going to be ok. I'm gonna give you something to ease the pain. This might sting a bit…" He trails off as he takes my left arm up in his hands.

A needle pierces my arm ever so softly, and I feel him taping it into place. He's putting an I.V. in me. I hear him clinking around in the background.

"And here comes the medicine….this might sting a little." He says and I feel something going into my I.V. burning into my veins. I try to move my arm and whimper. "Shhh don't move…its going to be alright." The burning continues and gets worse making me squeeze my eyes shut. "There…that should help until we get you to the hospital." He says moving away from me and going towards my head and I hear him sit.

"Hey Chris, how's she doing back there?" I hear a voice call from the front end.

"I think she's gonna be ok John. She's lost a lot of blood. Are they ready down there for us or are we gonna have to wait twenty minutes again?" Chris says annoyed.

"No they are all ready for us. This was a pretty bad wreck. I wonder how the hell she managed to do that with the vehicle. It's a wonder she's alive. I didn't realize she was so tiny until we pulled her out. I thought she was a child behind that wheel." A third mans voice chimes in.

My head starts feeling dizzy and warm, and I realize the medication he's given me must be taking effect. The ambulance turns and then maneuvers, and I can tell we are moving very fast down the roads. Then we turn and all at once we come to a stop. The siren stops and I hear noises coming from outside the vehicle. The doors fly open and I hear more voices and feel a stinging rush of cold air hit me. I feel myself being wheeled down by three sets of hands.

"Is she conscious?" a woman's voice calls.

"Yes Judy, I think she is but unable to open her eyes right now." Chris says to her as they are wheeling me in.

"Alright get her into front room 12. They are waiting for her in there." The woman's voice calls after him as we are moving. I can see lights fluttering by my eyes. I smell the familiar smells of a hospital and hear shuffling of feet.

"In here!" I hear another woman's voice call to us.

Turning a corner, I feel myself wheeled head first into somewhere. Hands come across me and take off my straps. I'm gently lifted off the stretcher onto another soft surface. A sheet is placed over me up to my chest.

"How's she holding up?" The woman says as I feel her touching me.

"I think she's alright but I'm no doctor!" Chris chuckles softly. More feet shuffling.

"Honey? Can you hear me?" The woman says to me as she gently touches me.

"mmmm" is all I can get out.

"Alright honey, its going to be ok. Can you talk at all?" She asks me as she peels one of my eyes open and shines a small pen sized flashlight in it. I can't make anything out. I try to squeeze my eye shut and move my head. "No no, don't move around now. Can you talk to me honey? Tell me you're name?" She says as she peels the other eye open. This time I get a look at her. She has very dark hair and a very full face, and that's all I can make out beneath the blinding light.

"La…Laiss…Laiss…" when I speak, it doesn't even sound like my voice.

"Ah that's good you can speak. Laiss? Nice to meet you Laiss. I'm Doctor Angie Lasek, and I'm going to take care of you. You were in quite the nasty car accident. Any idea what happened?"

"No…" I say softly starting to cough. The pain in my chest makes me whine and brings tears to my eyes.

"Does your chest hurt?" She says as she moves around the bed taking my air mask off gently.

"Yes…" my voice crackles.

"That's very common with accidents of that severity. Don't worry were going to get you into x-ray to make sure nothing is broken or cracked. Do you know where you are honey?" She says as she checks my I.V. over in my arm.

"Hospital…" I trail off.

"That's right. You are in St. Elizabeth's hospital in our ER section." She says softly.

"How old are you Laiss?" I hear her say as she's feeling around.

"Seven…teen…" I can't barely form the word.

"How much do you weigh?" she says softly.

"One….hundred." I sputter.

"One hundred pounds? Is that all?" She says clinking something together.

"Yes…." My throat hurts so bad when I talk.

"And how tall are you?" she asks suspiciously.

"Five...feet… even…" I breath out.

"Ah…it's a wonder you even survived the wreck being as small as you are." I can hear the motherly sympathy in her voice. "Do you hurt badly anywhere?"

"No…all….over…" I mumble.

"I think you're going to be alright honey, just pretty badly banged up." She says moving the sheet around.

More shuffling feet. A curtain is being pulled aside.

"How's she holding up?" I hear Chris's voice again.

I hear Doctor Lasek sighed. "She'll be ok Chris, she's talking now. Her name is Laiss and she's seventeen. You did get her ID from the car wreck right?"

"Mmhmm" he says softly.

"Why don't you go fill the paperwork out and I'll be with you in just a minute ok? We have to find her parents." She says moving around the room.

"Ok Doc." I can hear the smile in his voice as he closes the curtain again.

"Honey…" I hear her say as she moves closer to me. "Can you try to open your eyes? I will shut the lights off in here if it helps."

"Yes…" I choke out.

I hear her move to shut the lights off and then the blinding light stops. I gently try to open my eyes. The first thing I see is the doctor. She's a tall woman in her late forties, with dark black silver streaked hair and a very round face. Her eyes are very expressive and the most brilliant shade of electric blue. Her coat is white and she's wearing a pink button down cotton blouse and black dress pants under the open coat.

"Well hello there Laiss…is that better with the lights off?" She smiles at me.

"Yes…" my throat is so raw. It feels almost like I've been screaming for hours on end or someone choked me. I look around the room and see a sink to my right with a soap dispenser hanging to its right. There is a long cabinet with many drawers next to the sink which is level to the sink and its covered with various hospital trinkets. There are hospital privacy curtains on the left and the front of the room.

"I don't think you have any internal bleeding which is good. I'm sure you have some pretty nasty contusions and lacerations and there will be some swelling in those areas. The cut across your chest is going to need to be taken care. It's not so bad that it needs stitches, its just a minor cut but it still needs to be cleaned out and bandaged as well as any other wounds you may have. You will also be weak for a few days from the blood loss." She says moving closer to me. "You're quite lucky you know, I heard that car flipped a few times."

For the first time I look down at myself. I'm covered mostly in a white sheet but I can see my chest and my turquoise angel print tank top is ripped open exposing part of my blood stained white bra which is also partially ripped. I have a crooked slash mark down my chest, not deep enough to scar but deep enough to bleed. My shirt is streaked with not only blood but an unknown black, red and white substance and so are my arms. Part of my long, light blonde hair is tangled over the front of me and I can also feel it sticking to the bottom of my lower back where my shorts meet my shirt. My eyebrows come together over my emerald green eyes in confusion as I try to reach up to inspect the damage and realize my hands have the same colorful substance on them.

"What….what the….hell…." I start choking on my own words in disbelief.

"Take it easy honey. It's going to be ok. I know its quite a shock to see yourself in this sort of state. But you're going to be just fine. We will get you x-ray in just a few moments." She says putting her hand on my arm. I shrink back.

Something stirs within me. Fear. I feel intense paralyzing fear. Something….awful happened to me. But what…and do I really want to remember?

"Are you ok?" She says looking down at me and placing her hand on my shoulder. Looking up into her brilliant eyes and then I see something flash in the far reaches of my memory…. A face. A contorted snarling face. No…No….I don't want to remember this…do I? Something is coming at me. I reach up and grab the doctors hand and squeeze. "Honey….come on now its going to be ok…" she says as she's watching me squeeze her hand.

_**No get away from me….don't come any closer…please…I don't want this…**_A voice echoing my in head causes me to jump…._**who's there?!**_

"Honey….please….let go…." The doctor pleads with me as I'm crushing her hand and she's becoming alarmed. My face gets uncomfortably hot and my head starts to spin.

The voice is getting clearer and more distinct_**. No….no….it can't be.**_ It's getting closer_**. No please I don't want this.**_ Wait…what don't I want??_** I don't want this…I didn't mean it. No please….get away from me.**_

"Laiss…let go….you're hurting me!" Doctor Lasek says louder. I still squeeze unable to let go and immobilized by fear. "CHRIS!! JOHN!! ALLY!! GET IN HERE SOMEONE QUICK HELP!!" She continues shouting but my vision fades from this world and I'm starting to see horrifying images. She's trying to get away from me now without hurting me and we are rocking around slightly. My grip is relentless.

The voice echo's in my head again this time so much clearer. It's a mans voice. "...uh but you _do_ want it Laiss…_you_ called for me and here I am…" I've lost touch with where I am and slip into a dark memory just below the surface of consciousness.

_**No….please get away from me**_**…**the face becomes clearer…. his eyes searing into me…his dark sinister eyes surrounded by pitch black paint from the bottom of the eye socket and feathering so lightly into his eyebrows.

_**Oh God no….please no….someone help me! Where the hell am I! What the hell is going on!! **_Why can't I move?? My heart starts pounding so fiercely I'm afraid I'm having a heart attack. I start to pant.

"…uh you know very well what's going on Laiss…" How does he know my name…why can't I see the rest of him? I try to look at his face. Its covered in white paint that has mostly dried and cracked in some spots. Oh god….his lips….he's got scars on the sides of his mouth that extend a few inches out and are poorly healed…his mouth and scars are painted a bright red color. I can't help but stare up at him and study his face….its so remarkably beautiful to me even in this situation. He smirks at me and licks his lips. "like uh what you see?"

_**Please no….I don't want this.**_ "but you _do_…" he says as he comes closer to me. He's so close now I can see the color of his eyes. Brilliant deep black eyes….so beautiful. His wild blond green tinted hair tousled around his face and partially down his neck. I can smell him and he smells so good, like rain and wood. Why the hell can't I move!! He smacks his lips smiling at me.

_**Stop…don't come any closer…or I'll...**_I see something flash out of the corner of my eye breaking my gaze. In his gloved right hand I see a black handled knife. Oh god no please…don't do this….this isn't real this isn't…this can't be happening…"or you'll _what_…" his voice is deeper now, more chilling.

_**Or I'll scream and then they will hear**_….he swiftly and silently reaches his left hand around the back of my neck and puts the blade to my left cheek. I gasp and struggle against him but he's just too strong and way too big. "shh shh look at me…I'm not going to hurt you…" he whispers to me almost like a father to a child. Stopping my struggle I look up into his face. He is towering over me, he has to be over foot taller than me. I'm going to die. He's going to kill me. What have I done? He licks his lips and smiles and leans down to me "_So beautiful_…" he whispers as he ever so gently and slowly runs the tip of the knife blade down my cheek seductively while he studies my face. My body starts to shake uncontrollably and the tears start to well up in my eyes. His smile widens and his eyes dance as he leans even closer to me "_So very beautiful_…"

Out of no where I feel a stinging pain in my arm and the memory starts to fade. "For God's sakes be careful! She might have broken or cracked bones!!" Coming out of my memory, I see a man over me pushing me off Doctor Lasek as she's yelling at him. Realizing the stinging pain is another man trying to give me a shot, I begin to struggle.

"NO!! NO!! HE'S COMING TO GET ME!! GOD PLEASE NOOO!! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!! DON'T PUT ME TO SLEEP!!" I start screaming and struggling against Chris. The sheet I was covered with goes sailing as I kick and I feel a rush of cool air against my bare legs. The memory is fading fast and its hard to keep it in my mind. _Was it all just a dream?_

"Laiss….calm down….come on now its ok. No one will hurt you here. Relax….easy.." He's pushing me down trying to calm me. I recognize that voice. This man that has me must be Chris. He's looking down at me with his steel blue eyes and soft featured face. His light colored blonde hair is dangling around his face as he's studying my face. I stop struggling and look at the other man who had given me a shot. His hair was light brown and he had matching light brown eyes and a small face. They both look around the same age, late twenties or so. Looking back up to Chris, he smiles. "That's it….just relax. It's going to be alright." He lets go of me when I relax and I feel the shot they gave me starting to take effect.

"What….did you give me?" I whisper to him, eyes starting to get blurry and the memory fades away back into the abyss of my mind.

"It's just a mild…sedative." Doctor Lasek says softly as we both look at her. "You sure gave us a scare there. We're going to take you to x-ray now to make sure you don't have any broken or cracked bones. Can you sit up?" She comes over to me but doesn't touch me.

"I think so…I'm kinda dizzy." My voice is slurring.

"The sedative will make you a bit dizzy but you'll be ok. We need you to sit up for us right now. Can you do that?" she says as Chris backs away.

I start to sit up and the pain in my body although intense, isn't as bad as it was.

"There we are…now can you get up into the wheel chair for us?" Doctor Lasek says as she puts her hand under my arm to help me up.

"Yes…" I say softly.

Chris walks out of the curtain and wheels a dark blue wheelchair in next to my bed. Carefully sliding off the bed, I get into the wheelchair while Chris and Doctor Lasek helps me. A young nurse in animal print scubs appears from behind the curtain and gives me a sweet smile. She's short and has long dark chestnut brown hair pulled back in a pony tail and deep brown eyes.

"Hi there! My name is Sharri and I'm going to take you down to x-ray and get you checked out." She says as she goes behind the wheel chair.

My head is so dizzy and I'm so tired I can barely focus on anything as she wheels me down the hall. I can hear soft voices murmuring around me and low beeps from time to time. We come to a door and she wheels me through into a dim lit room and puts me near the x-ray table which is in the center of the room.

"Here we are. Can you stand up and get up there for me? This is gonna take a few minutes to x-ray you completely so just lay back and relax I will do the rest." She says to me as I slowly crawl up on the x-ray table. "Any chance you might be pregnant?"

"No…" my voice is soft.

"Well here just in case…" she says as she puts the lead shield over my stomach and straps it around my back.

I lay down on the x-ray table and start to drift off into a peaceful state of mind. The sedative they gave me is really starting to take effect on me. I can hear her moving around and changing the x-ray plates and talking to me but I'm not paying attention to what she's saying.

"Alright there. Let's get you back to your room so they can patch you up. I don't see anything broken or cracked but don't tell the doctor that she likes to do that for herself!" She chuckles as I slide off the x-ray table and into the wheel chair.

"Ok." I say to her.

She begins wheeling me back down the halls and I'm still dizzy and tired but this time I try to pay attention to my surroundings but I can't. We come back to the ER area where my room is and she wheels me back in.

"Here we are honey! You get up there and rest the doctor will be in here in just a few minutes." She smiles as I get up onto my bed and she leaves closing the curtain behind her.

My eyes flutter as I listen to the people walk by and talk to each other. I can hear whispering directly outside of my curtain over near where the walls must be. I try to make it out by closing my eyes and focusing my hearing.

"A joker card? What do you mean a joker card? Are you sure? How is that possible?" its Doctor Lasek whispering. My eyebrows come together….joker card? _Why can't I remember what happened….what does that mean?_

"I don't have the slightest clue how it got in there but its there. Its not just one either. They are littered all over the vehicle as well. All with the same message on them." Chris is whispering now, obviously disturbed. _Message? What message?_

"It might have to do with her little outburst in there earlier. Someone might be after her. Are the police aware of this?" She whispered.

"The police are on their way over. They wanted her to get taken care of first before they questioned her as to what this all meant." Chris whispered.

"Did you contact her parents yet? She is a minor and can't be interrogated by the police without a parent present." Doctor Lasek sighs obviously frustrated.

"Yes they are on their way right now. The mother didn't sound too happy either." Chris whispers.

_Oh no this can't be good….the cops are coming….great I'm going to go to jail but for what? I'm so damn confused. Why can't I remember what happened to me?? Oh my parents are not going to be pleased. Like they ever are pleased with me._

"Doctor Lasek?" I hear Sharri's voice. "Here's the x-rays for Laiss Wyatt. Nothing looks broken or cracked."

"Fantastic!" Doctor Lasek says in a pleased tone.

People start moving towards my curtain and push it aside. I open my eyes and look up and see Sharri, Doctor Lasek, and Chris all walk in.

"Well hello there…" Chris says to me with a wink.

"Well Laiss I've got some great news. You don't have to spend the rest of the summer in a cast! Only thing we have to do for you now is clean up that cut in your chest and write you out some prescriptions for pain." She says as she's opening drawers in the cabinet and moving things around and pulling things out. "Sharri, can you finish up here for me while I go write up those prescriptions? Thanks" She says as she hands gauze to her.

"Sure thing Doctor." Sharri says as the doctor leaves the room. She turns to me. "Now honey this might sting a bit that's a pretty nasty gouge you have in your chest. I'm going to need you to take off your shirt and bra. Your mom and dad have been called and are on their way and are bringing you some extra clothes."

I look up at Chris and he's standing there with a smirk on his face. I glare at him through my drugged haze.

"What about him…." I say pointing to him slurring my words.

He gets an innocent look on his face and throws his hands up as Sharri puts her hands on hips and gives him a look as a mother would a child who did something naughty.

"What did I do?? Aren't we all professionals here?? Oh alright I'm going!…don't have a fit Sharri!" he says softly laughing as he leaves the room.

She turns to me and rolls her eyes. "Men I swear!" She smiles at me and I smile back. "Now lets get you patched up. Go ahead and take your shirt and bra off we will get you fixed right up."

Just then Doctor Lasek comes back in. She looks at me. "Your mom and dad are her would you like me to send them in?" I shake my head yes and she looks behind her and motions for them to come in and then steps out of the way for them to come in.

The first one through the curtain is my father in his business suit. I smile weakly up at him. His deep emerald eyes take in the sight of his only daughter mangled by a nasty car wreck and the tears well up in his eyes. My father is a tough man, and has only one weakness and that would be me. But that could be said about all fathers. He runs his hands through his jet black hair and then down his rough tan face and removes his black rimmed glasses to wipe his face off.

"I'll come back in a few minutes to patch you up ok? Call me when you're ready." Sharri said as she walked out of the room.

"Hi there tiger lily.…" he says coming over to me and puts his glasses back on.

"Sorry about the car daddy…" I look up at him and say softly.

"Oh for crying out loud Laiss screw the damn car. I'm just glad you're ok!" He says, gently putting his hand on my shoulder.

Off to his left side my mother comes around him. She's a far cry from his height of six feet. She's where I get most of my looks from. Actually she's where I get close to all my looks from. From her short stature of five foot three and long wispy blond hair, right down to her elf like features and body shape that make her look far younger than she really is. The only feature I didn't get from my mom were her icy blue eyes.

"Well…maybe this will teach you to go for joy rides." She sighs shaking her head at me.

"Denise please…" My dad shoots her a nasty look. My father has quite the temper and that's one of the things I got from him along with his emerald eyes.

"Joy ride?" I repeat.

"Oh Harry please. The girl goes out with her friends to watch that stupid movie again for the tenth time and never comes home and then we get a phone call bright and early Saturday morning and our baby girl is in the damn hospital." Her voice wavers and I can tell she is legitimately concerned and was worried sick. "We didn't get you that car so you could go joy riding Laiss." She looks at me with her cold eyes. That's my mother for you. It's not that she doesn't care for me, its that she doesn't like to display any emotions remotely close to caring. Then her eyes soften and she walks over to me and gives me a gentle hug trying to avoid the paint. "I'm sorry…I was so upset….I'm glad you're ok."

"How did this….happen?" My father asks me with a confused look.

"I…I don't really know dad….I don't remember last night. I don't remember going out…" I said rubbing my head.

"Amnesia?" my mother says cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure…they said I don't have anything wrong with me other than cuts and bruises. But…I can't remember what I was doing. Or where I was. Or who I was with. I…it just….its gone…." I was desperately trying to remember and getting very frustrated by not being able to. I've always had such a keen memory so why is it failing me now?

"I'm sure it will all come back to you in time honey." My dad said.

"Well…Harry…lets let them finish taking care of her. Here sweetie, I brought you some extra clothes. Its very hot out today so I brought you're orange tank top and khaki shorts." My mother said as she set my clothes in the chair near the bed. "We will be waiting for you right outside here."

"Ok" I called after them as they walked out.

Sharri came back through the curtain and smiled at me. "All ready?" I shook my head yes. "Alright then….this might sting a bit but I promise to be gentle. And I have some pain medicine for you if you'd like," she said holding up a small cup full of two pills and I wobbly shook my head yes. ",Oh and while we're at it….let me get that I.V. out of you." She shut the curtain and then walked over and began removing my I.V tube and I squirmed slightly but was thankful when she got it out of my forearm. "Ok now, just take your shirt off and your bra and we will get that cut all cleaned up." She said as she began putting items from the cabinet on the medical tray to wheel over to me.

Leaning up I start taking my shirt off and I wince because I was still in pain. When I take my shirt off a playing card goes fluttering on the bed like a piece of ominous confetti. Both Sharri and I look at it, very confused. Reaching down, Sharri picks it up and gawks at it as her eyebrows furrow.

"What the…" She breathed.

"What…is that?" I feel the chills go down my back.

She hands it to me after a moment of staring at it with her mouth open. It's a wicked looking joker card with words scribbled on it in deep red marker. My blood immediately goes cold and I stop breathing. My heart begins to thunder in my chest and echo in my ears as the memory starts to surface again as I read what was scribbled on the card:

**HA HA HA HA we will meet again my sweet little Laiss **

_**Oh god….please….no….**_


	2. dark memories

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this story besides the main female character.

_**Phoenix: **_Are you two done yet?

_**JOKER:**_ (Looks over his shoulder from pushing Laiss into the wall with the knife at her throat.) Oh alright…(he drops his hands and lets Laiss go)

_**Laiss: **_(rolling her eyes)Dammit Phoenix do you have to ruin my fun! (runs over and kicks Phoenix in the ass)

_**JOKER: **_(laughs wildly)

_**Laiss:**_ What the_ hell_ are you laughing at!! (runs back to Joker and kicks him in the leg then backs up)

_**JOKER:**_ (growls) OH THAT'S IT!! (runs at Laiss and tackles her)

_**Laiss:**_ (squealing and laughing as they roll around on the ground)

_**Phoenix:**_ (shaking her head) Well I got chapter two up….please R&R.

* * *

CHAPTER 2: dark memories

"Laiss? Are you alright? What is that?" Sharri says as she walks towards me.

Images race through my mind as the memory surfaces again. I try and fight it rising up but I can't and it starts to boil over into my mind. _No I don't want to remember this…please no. _Staring at the card, I try to scream but nothing is coming out. My face is contorted in a silent scream and I hear Sharri yelling for Doctor Lasek. Slipping down further into madness I start to shake and convulse uncontrolled around the bed.

"DOCTOR LASEK!! OH GOD COME QUICK!! CHRIS HELP!!" I hear Sharri scream as she tries to hold me up. My eyes roll in the back of my head and in a brilliant white flash I'm back in the darkness of my memories.

* * *

"Oh for God's sakes Laiss when are you gonna get over that already?" Sadie sighs on the other end of the phone.

I adjust my orange cell phone against my wet ear. "Sadie I told you already, I don't want to date him. He just isn't my type." I say looking at myself in the mirror on the back of my white door. I have a pink towel wrapped tightly around my body and a white towel wrapped around my hair.

"Do you even _have_ a type Laiss?" She says as she laughs.

I roll my eyes and look over towards the far end of my room and out the window past my white ruffled curtains. The sun is just starting to set and the sky is glowing red from the heat of the day. "Yes Sadie I do…but…." My eyes dart over to the open closet directly to my left and I reach in and start moving my clothes around looking for what I want to wear tonight.

"But what? Don't tell me you plan on staying a virgin all the way through high school Laiss! We are gonna be seniors next year for fuck's sake! Live a little! Get laid! Trust me its not as bad as you think!" Sadie says in her famous pervert tone.

"Oh Sadie honestly!" I say to her smiling as I turning and walking out of the closet towards my black dresser. "I want more than just a one night stand or a high school fling, I want…." I trail off.

The top of my dresser is littered with various knickknacks, blue powder bottle, deodorant, a silver makeup case, a wooden jewelry box with an anarchy symbol on the top, a purple comb and rainbow colored brush and a few special water globes. I sigh as I look in the mirror attached to the dresser. _Why do I have to be so damn ugly? _Even though I am a five foot one hundred pound blonde haired girl, I still think I'm ugly as sin_. Maybe that's why I refuse to date someone…or maybe its because…of him…_and my eyes slowly track up the mirror to the clipped out pictures I have of the Joker from the new movie The Dark Knight. The first and only man I've ever actually loved. _How pathetic am I that I don't even love a real person? _My heart twinges at that thought and the tears well up. _God I am so stupid…_

"Hello earth to Laiss! What do you want?" Sadie's voice in my ear breaks me out of my little day dream.

" I already told you before….I want love Sadie…I want someone to take care of me. I don't want to 'just get laid' " I imitate her pervert tone and this sends us both into a fit of giggles.

"You're such an ass!" Sadie breaths through her laughter.

"Why yes…yes I am!" I say trying to calm down. "Hey can you hang on for a minute I have to comb my hair out real quick. I will put you on speaker."

"Yep"

I open up the phone and click the speaker function and set it on the dresser. "Can you hear me?"

"Yep" She says.

Taking the towel off my head, I sigh loudly and start ruffling the towel in my hair to dry it.

"Having fun over there?" Sadie is obviously listening to my sounds as I'm rustling the towel. I just 'tsk' at her and keep going. "Come on Laiss, seriously now….for me. Please?" I can hear the genuine feeling in her voice.

Groaning loudly I start to comb my damp hair. "Oh for cryin out loud Sadie….alright."

"REALLY!!" She can hardly contain her excitement. "Ok ok…do you want him to pick you up or do you want to meet him here or at the movies or what?" I hate when she gets excited she starts talking too fast.

"I will drive there to the movies myself and will meet you guys there. And remember, this wasn't my idea so if it goes bad its your fault." I say finishing combing my hair and setting the comb down.

"Yes Ma'am!" Oh I hate when she does that to me. "Just remember we gotta be there in like forty five minutes so move your ass!"

"Yes I know I know I'm going. I will see you there."

"K girl, peace out."

"Bye" I pick up the phone and click it shut and then hit off and set it back on the dresser.

Sighing, I open my top dresser drawer and rummage through and find a pair of pink underwear and a pair of white socks. _Wow this drawer is a damn mess I need to clean this mess out. _I close the drawer and throw the underwear and socks behind me and they go fluttering onto my bed. I shut the drawer and then open the next drawer down and purse my lips while I'm looking over my neatly folded shirts. I run my hand across a few t-shirts and then smile as I see my turquoise angel print tank top. _I always loved this shirt. My grandma got it for me. Speaking of her, I need to go visit her to talk about these strange dreams I've been having. They are probably nothing more than silly dreams from watching The Dark Knight twenty times….well make that twenty one tonight, but still I need to talk to her. I swear they are real. They feel so real I can actually smell and taste in them. _

I throw the tank top towards the bed behind me and close that drawer and then open the next drawer down. _Hmmmm shorts, shorts…._I rummage through the jean shorts and black dress shorts until I come across my favorite pair. I giggle to myself as I pull them out. On the back of them they have a kiss mark on the left back pocket. Mom hates these shorts but not as much as dad. I always love getting a rise out of my parents. A wicked smile creeps out on my face and then quickly fades as I shut the drawer and toss the shorts behind me to the bed. I take my towel off and start drying myself a little and then walk over to my closet and hang the towel over my closet door to dry out. My eyes nervously track over to the open window and I really hope no ones peeking it at me. Not like I'm anything special to look at or anything, but still. Walking back over to my dresser, my eyes come across the pictures of the joker and I blush. _Good grief…_I shudder as I start putting my deodorant and powder on. Out of the corner of my eye over near my closet, I swear I see a figure standing there and I spin towards it. _Nothings there….oh wow I really need to stop watching that movie…_I smirk slightly..._then again what fun would that be? _I walk over to the closet and reach in and pull my favorite white lace bra off the hook to the left of the closet door.

Breathing out heavily, I walk over to my bed and start putting on my clothes. Glancing over at my clock I groan _ughhhh 9:29 that means I have like 10 minutes to get my ass out the door so I can get to the mall in time for the movie. I so don't want to go on a date. Why did I let Sadie talk me into this. I don't even like Patrick. I don't understand what his infatuation with me is. I'm not one of those preppy girls. So what if he's the captain of the football team. So what if he's tall and 'handsome' and tan. So what if he has a perfect grade average and never misses a day of school. So what….he isn't…he's just not…._I flop down on my bed and then lay back. How I love my mountain of blankets on my bed and my big body pillow. Its like I'm cuddling…him._ Oh how silly Laiss._ I look up to my shock white ceiling and slowly sigh. _He isn't even real. _I close my eyes and I feel the tears start to well up again and my chest twinges._ Why do I have to be in love with someone like him? And let's not even mention the obvious-he doesn't exist. _My eyes are filled with tears and a few gently tickle down my cheeks towards my ears. I quickly wipe my face and eyes because I hate tears in my ears. I kick my right foot against the wall gently and then roll to my left and look up at my dresser's mirror.

"I wish you were real…" I whisper out, staring at him. I blink my eyes and in that split second, I swear he moved in the largest picture. I cock my head up and look at the picture. Instead of his normal stance in the picture where he's facing off the right side of the picture, hands to his sides with a knife in his left hand, he's now looking down dead on at me and the hand that he's holding the knife in is raised up. It's almost as if he's looking right at me…._Oh my god….he did move. What the hell I must be going crazy! _I slowly get up from the bed and walk towards the dresser while my eyes are scanning the picture. He did in fact move. _What the hell…how is that possible? Did he move or am I seeing things here?_ Shaking my head I sigh_. I'm loosing my mind. There's just no way that's even possible. _As I'm staring intently at the picture, I can swear he's looking back at me. I can feel the emotion in his eyes and my heart begins to beat a little faster. I reach down and pick up my cell phone and slide it in the left back pocket of my shorts, still staring at him. I reach down and slowly pick up my miniature purple brush and stuff it in my right front pocket. I linger for just a second more then I shake my head and walk towards my closet. I reach in and grab my purple fairy purse that's hanging on the hook next to where my bra was, and open it up without taking it off the hook. _I swear I must be loosing my fucking mind._ I sigh grabbing my pink rabbit head wallet and open it up and reach in and get out the two twenties I have and then stuff them into my left front pocket. _I seriously do not want to go on this date. _I roll my eyes and stuff my wallet back into my purse. I shut the closet door as much as I can without disturbing the drying towel hanging over it, and walk back over to my dresser and look at the picture just one more time. I do a triple take and to my utter shock and horror, the picture has moved again. _Ok this time I know damn well he moved…what the hell is going on?? _Instead of facing right at me he's facing towards where my closet is and looking that way and he's right up against the front of the picture. My lips start to tremble as I reach up and touch the picture where his face is_. It can't be….it just isn't possible._ The picture feels warm under my fingers, and soft….too soft. Almost as if I'm really touching him, and I run my fingers down the image. I pull my hand back and look at my fingers in disbelief. _What the…_there's white paint on my fingers. I jerk my eyes back up and shriek as I realize he's looking directly at me, his gaze burning into me.

"What the fuck….what the fuck….what the _bloody fuck_…" I breath out, tears starting to well up and I start to shake.

I back away off to the right very slowly from the picture, and his head moves with me, his eyes dancing and glittering. I gasp out loud and stop in my tracks unable to move_. I'm seeing shit. This can't be real. This isn't happening. _I start backing up again and his gaze is following mine, and he smiles a toothy grin at me and licks his lips. I'm shaking badly now shaking my head no. I can barely stand as I continue backing up towards my door. When my back touches my closed door I yelp out of fear and look right towards my wall where my light switch is, and then my eyes dart back over to the dresser. Sharply I inhale as I realize he's gone right out of the picture. My eyes dart all over my room but I see nothing. _What the hell….what the hell! _

I spin around and grab my door handle and fling my door open and run out my bedroom door almost running directly into the wall. Turning quickly to my left, I run past the bathroom and come to the balcony overlooking the front entrance. From behind me I hear something that makes my blood freeze in my veins and almost stops my heart and I spin around. It's a very faint noise but terrifying noise. I hear slight singing coming from the end of the hallway in the darkness of my parents room. Just a little tune that makes no sense. Like a child humming to themselves. I know that voice…It's him singing. _It can't be. It can't be. This isn't happening._ I turn quickly to my left and come to the top of my stairs and race down them tripping all the way. I stop at the bottom to catch my breath and clutch my chest. I'm panting and my heart is thundering in my chest. Then I hear something from the top of the stairs that makes me yelp like I've been kicked in the stomach and I uncontrollably freeze, unable to move. I can't even scream.

"Where you _uh_ running off to beautiful?" his voice is like music to my ears, the song I fall asleep to every night, what I've been waiting to hear my entire life. My chest almost explodes from my fiercely beating heart and I swear I'm going to loose consciousness. What a time for my parents to be out! I slowly turn around praying to see nothing but half praying he really is standing there.

My eyes come across the most captivating, thrilling and horrifying sight I've ever seen in my entire life. There he is, standing there in all his glory, right at the top of my stairs. He's in my house. Starting down at me with his head cocked to one side and a wicked smile on his face, and his hand on the banister. I've stopped breathing as I soak him in. It's like he walked right off the movie screen right into my house. All with his royal purple pants and overcoat, his crazy patterned grayish-blue dress shirt, his crazy kelly green vest, that crazy silver like patterned tie, those worn light brown leather shoes, and last but not least, those purple driving gloves. The sight is almost too much to bear. Even in my state of severe shock my sense of humor starts, and the song 'I believe in miracles' starts playing in my head for a brief second. My very soul ignites at the sight of him standing there, and I feel my insides burn with….oh God I don't even want to think it….desire. I look up into his face and he raises his eye brows at me.

"See uh something ya like?" he says mocking me.

"huuuh….I….wha…." I try to speak but it just won't come out. This can't be happening.

He puts his hand up to his ear and smiles a silly smile at me. "What was that Laiss? 'Hi there Joker….good to see you Joker….I've been dreaming about you every night and I want you Joker' is that what you want to say to me?" he smacks his lips and shakes his head at me.

"I…no…I don't…." I stutter.

"Oh come on now! I've been uh _listening_ to you every single night. Just _waiting _for you to do what you did. You wished me here Laiss. And here I am." He starts walking down the stairs at me

_I did what?? _I shake my head and look wildly around.

"I wouldn't run if I were you…" He smiles at me walking down the stairs slowly at me.

I cock my head at him and do the only thing I can think of- I start book ass running to my left towards the front door, and I can hear him crashing down my stairs after me. My hearts racing and I'm shaking and I can barely move. I try to grab my keys off the key ring and then run out the door but he's too quick. He comes flying up behind me and slams himself against the door glaring at me preventing me from leaving. I jump back and run into the darkness of my living room and trip over the coffee table and almost kill myself and he's right behind me slowly stalking me. There's no way I can get away now. I slowly back myself into a wall, and when I do its like I step through it into another universe. I'm no longer in my living room. _What the hell is going on here!! _I look around and I'm not at home any more. I'm in a very dark room, with just me and the Joker. My eyes adjust partially and I can see that I'm in a grand bed chamber. The walls are covered with beautiful tapestries, and the giant windows are covered with dark colored drapes. The room is cool and smells wonderful, like a man. I look over to my right and I see a bed bigger than I've ever seen before in my life with four posts. I spin to the left and I see a recess in the wall…a fireplace? _Where the fuck am I?? _I look back at the Joker and can see his eyes glittering in the dim glow of a small night light burning in the bedroom casting shadows all over the room and his face. He's walking towards me very slowly, staring me up and down.

"No…get away from me….don't come any closer…please…I don't want this…" I shakily breath out.

"...uh but you _do_ want it Laiss…_you_ called for me and here I am…" he breaths at me licking his lips.

"No….please get away from me…" his eyes sear into me…his dark sinister eyes surrounded by pitch black paint from the bottom of the eye socket and feathering so lightly into his eyebrows.

"Oh God no….please no….someone help me! Where the hell am I! What the hell is going on!!" I start calling out but my voice is so feeble and I've backed myself to the wall of the room.My heart starts pounding so fiercely I'm afraid I'm having a heart attack. I start to pant.

"…uh you know very well what's going on Laiss_…" How does he know my name…This isn't happening….this can't be_….I look into his face and I can't believe what I'm seeing. His face is covered in white paint that has mostly dried and cracked in some spots. Oh god….his lips….he's got scars on the sides of his mouth that extend a few inches out and are poorly healed…his mouth and scars are painted a bright red color. I can't help but stare up at him and study his face….its so remarkably beautiful to me even in this situation.

He smirks at me and licks his lips. "Like uh what you see?"

"Please no….I don't want this." I breath out.

"but you _do_…" he says as he comes closer to me. He's so close now I can see the color of his eyes. Brilliant deep black eyes….so beautiful. His wild blond green tinted hair tousled around his face and partially down his neck. I can smell him and he smells so good, like rain and wood. He smacks his lips smiling at me.

"Stop…don't come any closer…or I'll..." I see something flash out of the corner of my eye breaking my gaze. In his gloved right hand I see a black handled knife. _Oh god no please…don't do this….this isn't real this isn't…this can't be happening…_

"or you'll _what_…" his voice is deeper now, more chilling.

"Or I'll scream and then they will hear…." he swiftly and silently reaches his left hand around the back of my neck and puts the blade to my left cheek. I gasp and struggle against him but he's just too strong and way too big.

"shh shh look at me…I'm not going to hurt you…" he whispers to me almost like a father to a child. Stopping my struggle I look up into his face. He is towering over me, he has to be over foot taller than me. _I'm going to die. He's going to kill me. What have I done?_ He licks his lips and smiles and leans down to me.

"So beautiful…" he whispers as he ever so gently and slowly runs the tip of the knife blade down my cheek seductively while he studies my face. My body starts to shake uncontrollably and the tears start to well up in my eyes. His smile widens and his eyes dance as he leans even closer to me "So very beautiful…"

His face is so close to mine. I can feel the sweet hotness of his breath fanning gently across my lips as he gazes into my eyes.

"What do you want?" I whisper out barely audible.

He backs away slightly and whispers "You call me up out of the streets of Gotham, while I was having fun with batsey…and you ask me what _I _want?"

"I…no I didn't….what are you talking about??" I start squirming against him.

"Ah at" he breathes at me as he holds me still.

"Gotham?" The shock of what he said sinks in.

"Well uh yeah that's where I come from...and technically that's uh where you are right now. Well right outside Gotham city limits." He smiles slightly and licks his lips.

"That's not…no…there's no way that's…." my mind is racing.

"Not _what_? Not possible?" he says as he runs his hand from the back of my neck to around my throat and holds gently but doesn't squeeze. "Oh it's possible Laiss. You know it is. You called for me and here I am. I have a feeling you and I are gonna be _real_ close from now on." He licks his lips and gives me a toothy grin.

"What…what the hell is that suppose to mean?" I say, eyebrows coming together.

"Well uh, everyone says I'm insane but I'm not stupid. Far from it actually" He says as his eyes flutter. "I know now what you are capable of. You've even pulled batsey out into your world and now he's aware of it. And believe me, I don't think he's too happy about that."

"Wh-what the hell are you talking about??" I say as my voice gets higher pitched and wavers.

"Oh don't play stupid it doesn't uh suit you." He says as he's rubbing my neck and licking his lips. "You know very well what you've done Laiss. And there's no going back. I should thank you….oh and I plan on it," his eyes glitter and he leans closer so that his breath is tickling my face again ", over and over again…." The way he looks at me and says that makes me shiver.

"Oh God no please don't rape me…" I breath out struggling against him.

"No uh…I'm not going to rape you…" he says holding me still.

"But you just said…" He cuts me off.

"I didn't say I was uh gonna rape you did I?" He cocks his head and smack his lips and smiles as he's thinking. "You can't rape the willing now can you?" he smiles at me and my heart sinks. _How did he know? How does he know I want him? _

"Please don't…" I breath out tears coming down my face.

Then I see something in his eyes I never thought possible. Is that compassion? Is that….heartache? He reaches up with the knife in his hand and wipes my tears away with the back of his hand.

"I said…I won't rape you Laiss." he whispers as he leans in closer than ever and I feel his lips brush against mine and I whimper slightly and quickly close my eyes.

"No..don't…" I start struggling, and he squeezes my throat. "I've never…please….I don't know…how…" I whisper out desperately trying to get him to stop. I feel him back away and I open my eyes. He's studying my face and he's obviously thinking.

"Well now, that's a fact about you that I _didn't_ uh know…I mean I could of figured it out easy enough but…I wasn't always able to monitor you…" He says gently squeezing my neck causing me to swallow hard. He smiles at this, licks his lips and keeps doing it and I start to struggle, and he puts the knife to my cheek and whispers so softly "We can do this the easy, gentle way so I don't uh tear you in two…." Then he squeezes harder and takes the knife and runs it crookedly down my chest tearing into my flesh and ripping my shirt, and his voice deepens and becomes rough "Or we can do it the uh _hard_ way…" I start crying out at the pain of the knife tearing into my skin and he stops mid way down and twirls the knife around where he stopped, obviously savoring my pain. His voice softens and he says "I don't uh want to hurt you…" then his voice becomes rough again "_much…_" he rasps, licking his lips as he jabs the knife deeper into my chest.

I struggle and manage to kick him right where it counts and he grunts and slumps over and I manage to get away from him and run towards the doors and I try to open them but I can't.

"A little fight in you….I like that!" He says as he walks towards me smacking his lips.

"Why me….what do you want with me? Why not some other girl? Why me! Just let me go! You can have any girl you want you know, everyone on the planet thinks you are hot as hell….you could easily go and get anyone you…" all at once he runs up on me and grabs me and slams me into the wall. I grunt and look at him. His eyes are fierce and wild.

"_I want you!!_….not some other fucking _bimbo!"_ He growls at me as his squeezes my neck and pushes the knife into my cheek but doesn't cut me. His eyes soften and he starts rubbing my throat again. "Besides….what other girl in your world has your power and ability? And what other girl is…" and he leans down so close to my lips I can feel his breath again. His lips brush mine and I feel the very tip of his tongue as it darts out and he lick his lips "as beautiful as you…" he leans down and sniffs deeply near my neck and lets out a very low growl ,"Or smells as good as you…." Then he moves his head back and looks into my eyes … "or loves me as much as you do…" I move my head away but he holds me still and looks into my eyes.

'I don't….I…have any power…what…are you….mpfh…talking….about…" I choke out as he rubs my throat harder and his eyes dance in delight. He's really enjoying choking me and I hate to admit it…but so am I. His touch is driving me insane and I want so badly to hug him but I'm afraid of what he would do to me. I couldn't even deny that I love him. Because I do. With all my stupid, silly, naïve, young, foolish heart.

"But you do Laiss….you have extraordinary powers. And I've been watching you from this world for your entire little life….just waiting." He smiles down at me.

"Wh-what??" I breath.

"Oh don't tell me you don't remember your little imaginary uh _friends_…" he says as he leans into me crushing me and I gasp.

I try to look away but I can't."What are you…." I whisper but he cuts me off.

"Oh don't start the innocent routine again. Like I said. I may be _'insane'_ but I'm not _stupid_." He whispers leaning into me more making me squeak and this makes his eyes dance wildly. He is obviously getting very turned on by my pain.

"Please….you're crushing… me…" I whisper looking up into his eyes. Surprisingly, he leans off of me but keeps his face close.

"I forget sometimes just how uh small you really are…" He trails off in thought and looks to the side of me.

Then from the outside of the doors I hear banging like someone knocking.

He leans up and looks at the door but keeps his hand on my throat. "WHAT!" he yells making me jump.

"Uhh boss….we got problems…" I hear a mans voice from the other side of the doors.

He rolls his eyes and taps his fingers on my neck and smacks his lips "SO UH THEN TAKE CARE OF IT MORON!!"

"Ummmm boss we would but um…well….it's Batman. He's headed this way and we think he knows about your little visit to you know where and we think he knows this is where you are." The guy is obviously very nervous telling the Joker this information for fear of catching a bullet.

He purses his lips and looks down at me. "How sweet….batman is coming to save you. No doubt he's aware of your power too. And no doubt he will want to seal the rift between the two worlds that you've caused over your _love_ for me…" he whispers rubbing my throat.

"But….I don't….love…" he squeezes my throat so hard I can't finish my sentence and I put my hands on his arm to pull it away and I can feel the strength in his arms and it excites me and scares me at the same time.

"Oh yes you do….and everyone here knows it Laiss…" he growls at me as we struggle.

"Boss?" I hear the man call and we stop struggling.

"GIVE ME A FUCKIN MINUTE!!" he yells at the guy and the guy says something as he's walking away.

As he's holding my throat, he reaches down in his jacket pocket and pulls out a card, and a red marker. He takes his gloves off and stuffs them in his pockets. Squeezing his body against me so I can't move, he reaches up with both hands and puts the card against the wall and starts writing on it humming to himself. He caps the marker and stuffs it back in his pocket. He looks at me, grins and then grabs my shirt and pulls it out ripping it more and exposing my bra. He looks down my shirt and cocks one eye brow and mutters 'nice…' I start struggling and he reaches up and squeezes my throat.

"Hold still…" he growls at me.

He takes the card and sticks his hand right down my shirt and presses the card into the top of my stomach so it sticks there. He lets go of my throat and puts his hand on my shoulder. As he moves his other hand out he slowly brushes the backs of his fingers across my left nipple. I've never been touched there by a man…I've never been touched anywhere by a man really. My entire body shakes and I moan softly and my knees go weak and I can feel myself getting aroused at his touch. I feel my face flush and get hot as he looks down at me with a look on his face that almost makes me scream. I can feel my lips start to tremble, and I know I'm looking at him like I shouldn't be because he lets out a low guttural growl. My knees loose function and I start sliding down. He snakes his arm around my waist to hold me up so I don't fall. I gasp and reach both hands up and gently place them on his arms.

He smiles gently at me as he's looking back and forth into my eyes, and leans down towards my lips. I back away until my head is pushed into the wall and I'm arched in his arms. He looks down at my exposed chest and cleavage and licks his lips and then looks at me, cocks his head at me and raises his eyebrows. I start panting and my heart starts beating wildly. _Oh God…please no…_he leans in closer to my face…I close my eyes…and all at once I feel his hot lips on mine. The shock from his soft lips touching mine sends my body into uncontrolled shivers. I moan softly as he kisses me ever so gently, I can barely feel his lips against mine. To my shock, I'm responding. I delicately kiss him back as my lips are trembling. I have no idea what I'm doing but obviously whatever it is, I'm doing it right. I feel his body shudder very slightly and I feel him get hotter and his grip around my waist tightens and he pushes his lower half into mine. I push on his arms slightly but he just pushes back harder. I inhale sharply and breath out 'Oh…God…' against his lips as he's kissing me and this makes him growl at me, but its not an angry growl. It's the growl of an animal that just found its life mate.

I moan in a higher pitch and this sends him into a uncontrolled frenzy. He starts kissing me harder, more passionately, I try to struggle but I'm shaking so badly I can't. Then I feel his hot wet tongue licking my lips as he's kissing me trying to gently coaxing my tongue out. I push against him and he shoves his left knee between my legs, splays my legs wide open and then steps in between my legs and pushes himself into me. I groan as I feel how hard he is against my sweet area. _Oh God no not like this….not now…_My legs are sprawled over his hips and he moves his hands down to my waist and grinds me into his crotch and growls loudly. I put my arms around his shoulders and let out a soft shriek that's quickly silenced by his mouth over mine. He takes my lower lip in his mouth and starts nibbling and sucking on it causing me to moan loudly. He gently bites down on it and I gasp as my tongue slips past my lips and touches his top lip. I take my tongue and softly run it across his top lip tickling him. I feel his body jump at the feeling of my tongue, and he lets my lip go and seizes my tongue with his lips then his teeth and gently sucks it in his mouth. _Oh God….oh my God in heaven….so this is what Sadie is always going on about…_

I moan in a increasingly higher pitch as we are kissing and this drives him wild. He starts kissing me deeper, running his hands up my arched back and pulling me harder up on his chest. _Oh my God I'm French kissing the fuckin joker!! _He starts kissing down my neck and I just lay my head back and squeeze his arms, moaning and shaking. I can feel the paint from his face smearing all over my face, shirt and arms. This wild passionate kissing goes on for what seems an eternity, and then all at once he breaks his ministrations. He looks down at me and grins wickedly. The paint is all but smeared off his face and I can almost see his face under it. It makes my heart skip a beat.

"Tease…" he breathes out licking his lips and fluttering his eyes.

"Huh?" I say confused.

"We are just gonna have to uh finish this later. Batsey is on his way here and I don't want him catching you here and taking you. You're _MINE_." He growls that last word and it makes me jump.

He steps back away from me and my legs hit the ground shakily. He grabs me by my hand and starts pulling me back towards the other side of the room. That's when I see it. A giant mirror, as tall as the walls and about ten feet wide. Its glowing slightly around its edges. How did I miss that before?

"What…what are you doing?!" I shriek as he pushes me towards the mirror.

He pulls me to him and looks into my eyes. "Just remember….you're mine…and I will come back for you." He then puts his hands on my chest and shoves me into the mirror. Instead of smashing into glass, I'm falling. I fall right over on my ass and look up and realize I'm back in my living room. _What the hell? Was I imagining the whole thing? _I shakily stand up and that's when I realize the pain in my chest. I look down at my chest and realize my shirt is torn and I have a huge crooked gash mark down my chest that's slightly bleeding. I look at my arms and they are smeared with his paint. _It was real. It can't be! _

Then lights flash outside the window and I realize my parents are pulling in. _Oh shit! I gotta get out of here! _I grab my keys from the floor turn and run out the backdoor to my patio and wait for my parents to come in. When they are in the house I run around the side of the house and run down the driveway to my blue buick century and fling the door open and jump in. I look up and notice my mother staring out the window at me and I pray she doesn't notice the cut down my chest. _I gotta get to my grandma she will know what to do. _I don't even notice the joker cards sprinkled in the backseat of my car.

I jam the keys in the ignition, start it and put it in gear. I notice my mother has stepped out on the front porch and I don't even pay attention to her waving her arm at me like she wants to talk to me. I peel out of the driveway and speed away. I realize I'm not breathing and I let out a huge breath of air as my phone starts ringing. I reach in my back pocket and look at my phone. Its my mother calling. Screw that she'll yell at me and want to know why I peeled out and where the hell am I going at this hour. Shit what time is it anyways? I look at the clock and it reads 9:45. Just as I'm rolling my eyes, my phone starts buzzing and this time its Patrick. I grumble and shove the phone back in my back pocket. When I'm trying to fumble the phone into my back pocket, I hear screeching tires coming from the side of me. I look up as I shove the phone back in my pocket and that's when I see it. I don't even have time to scream. A huge red pick up truck without its lights on is coming right at the side of my vehicle. I step on the gas harder but it still smashes into the back end of my car sending me spinning around. I start screaming as I feel the car rolling end over end over a hill and then I hit hard and then….blackness.

* * *

I gasp and wake up out of my memory. I look around and realize I'm in another room from where I was in the hospital. I can see peoples' feet moving from under the curtain at the end of the room past my feet. I try to sit up and that's when I realize my hands have been restrained to the side of the bed by straps. _What the hell!_

"Mom? Dad? _ANYONE!!"_ I scream out as I'm struggling against the straps.

I hear shuffling feet and the curtain comes open and Doctor Lasek peeks her head in.

"She's awake!" She turns to her right and calls to someone.

More scuffing feet, and from around the curtain comes my mother, my father, two police officers, and a man dressed in a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a black tie. He has black hair streaked with gray that's slicked back, and light brown eyes and a very stern looking face.

"Miss Wyatt…I'm Detective Loren…." His voice is just as stern as his face.

_My parents don't look to happy. Oh shit. I'm gonna go to jail._ _This so can't be good! I am sooooo screwed! _


	3. an agent of chaos

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this story besides the main female character.

_**Phoenix**_: (watches Laiss and Joker rolling around kissing) Oh my God you guys come on now there might be kids watching!! Save that for a later chapter will you!

_**Laiss:**_ ( Jumps up giggling and wipes her face off)…

_**JOKER:**_ (snickers still laying on the ground)….

_**Phoenix:**_ (rolls eyes) Well here's chapter 3 please R&R. (P.S. Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up, me and my little one have been ill lately.)

* * *

Chapter 3 an agent of chaos

"Why the hell am I strapped down??" I say struggling against the straps. I look down and realize that the cut in my chest has been cleaned and bandaged but I'm still in my clothes from the accident.

"It was for your own protection-and ours Laiss. We were afraid you might hurt yourself or us." Doctor Lasek says walking over to me. I don't like the look on everyone's face.

"Let me out of these damn things…." I look up at her and I have an overwhelming urge to punch her in the face. "I'm a hundred pound seventeen year old girl. How much harm could I cause you?"

"First, we need you to answer some questions." The detective says to me coming closer. I glare at him.

"Laiss, please honey." My dad says softly to me.

"Can you tell us how you got in that accident?" He says pulling out a paper and a pen from his back pocket.

"Some idiot in a red truck came out of no where and hit the side of my vehicle. That's all I remember."

"Mmhmm." He says as he's writing things down. "And where were you heading when this happened?"

"The movies…" I trail off.

"The movies? That's funny. You were found going the opposite way of the mall. You were going to the movies at the mall correct?" He looks at me and narrows his eyes.

"Well I was suppose to but…" He cuts me off.

"But what? You just decided to take a little detour?" I don't like his eyes its like they aren't even….human.

"No…I was going to go to my grandmothers…."

"I thought you just said you were going to the movies?" he gives me a hard look.

"I was but then I needed to go see my grandmother."

"Why?"

"I…needed to talk to her about….something." I stutter and he gives me a look.

"Laiss!" My mother snaps.

"Oh how embarrassing! I was going to ask her advice about Patrick." I make up something quick.

"Hmmm…does your grandma have a phone?" He asks cocking his head.

"Yes but…" he cuts me off.

"Yes but what? And who is this Patrick fellow?"

"Yes but I'd rather talk to her in person. And Patrick is just some guy from high school that Sadie…oh God Sadie is gonna be so pissed at me for blowing off Patrick…." I lay my head back and close my eyes for a second.

"Ok Who's this Sadie person and what did she do and why would she be angry with you?" he asks.

I open my eyes and roll them "Sadie is my best friend and she tried setting me up on a date with Patrick last night at the last minute and I agreed and now she's gonna be all upset at me because…"

My dad cuts me off "No honey…we already talked to Sadie. She called this morning at an ungodly hour as usual to see how your date with Patrick went. This was right before we got the call from the hospital letting us know you were here."

Then it dawns on me. "Oh that little _shit_!! She set me up on a solo date with Patrick! I'm gonna choke her when I see her!" I start struggling against the straps.

"So you were headed out for a date with this Patrick fellow and you didn't want to go so you just blew him off and decided to go to grandma's house?" the detective's accusing tone is making me very nervous.

"No…I didn't blow him off…I…" Well now how was I suppose to tell all these people that the Joker came out of one of my pictures, or more accurately my damn mirror and I stepped into another world and then batman was going to come find us and he shoved me back through this glowing mirror and…oh brother.

"You what?" the detective snaps.

"I wasn't blowing him off I was…I needed to talk to my grandmother that's all. Now can I get out of these straps please?" I grunt struggling against the straps.

"If you won't cooperate here we can take you down to the station and question you there." The detective is glaring at me.

"Now just a damn minute…" and there goes my father. "You can't take her down there without our permission she is a minor. And I am not giving you permission to take my daughter into an interrogation room for God knows how long to try and squeeze information out of her for something she obviously doesn't know anything about!"

The detective sighs and says "Alright fine. Just one more question and then were gone." He holds up the Joker card that was placed in my shirt. "Any idea where this came from or who wrote it?" he smirks at me.

"Well…I…" I stutter not wanting to lie but I can't tell the truth either.

"Laiss, you're parents told us about your little infatuation with this new movie that's out. I'm sure your friends know…" he says coming closer and his voice goes down to almost a whisper. "And if I find out that this Patrick fellow did this and you're lying to us…you are going to be in a whole lot of trouble. Don't play the innocent girl routine with me. I'm a twenty year man and I can tell the difference between a wound from a car accident and a knife blade." He points at my chest. I look at Doctor Lasek and I can tell by the look on her face that she told him the wound couldn't of been caused in the accident.

"I don't know how that happened." I say blankly.

He scoffs at me "Alright Laiss, play the games with me. I can play games too. We will just bring this Patrick fellow in for questioning." He storms out with the two police officers and looks back at me. "And I will be in touch with you again, you can count on it."

I sigh and lay my head back. "Can I please get out of these straps now?"

Doctor Lasek walks over and takes the straps off. My parents slowly walk out of the room giving me nasty looks. I can hear my parents and the detective talk for just a brief moment and then he's gone.

Doctor Lasek sighs and whispers, "Why wouldn't you tell him who did that to you?"

I think for a minute then speak. "No one would believe me even if I told them. Now can I get dressed and go home?"

"Yes. You're parents will be right outside when your ready to leave. Your clothes are right there." She points over to the chair where my clothes are sitting then walks out shaking her head.

_Oh wonderful. Now I got Patrick in trouble. Oh this day is getting better and better. I'll probably have cops and all sorts of people crawling all over me because the nice little Doctor there went and told everyone that the wound had to of been a knife wound. _I get up and start getting dressed and then I hear a soft ding and then someone clears their throat on the PA system. My eyebrows come together.

"Hello ladies and gentleman…" my blood runs ice cold as I realize who it is and I throw the rest of my clothes on leaving my bra and underwear on since my parents seem to have forgotten them. _Christ where the hell are the cops! Oh and what are they gonna do Laiss, chase his ass through a mirror into Gotham?_

"I'm having a slight problem locating a patient here at your fine hospital. I'm looking for a Miss Laiss Wyatt…I would appreciate if in the next few moments someone will be kind enough to let me know where she is…" I take my dirty clothes and stuff them in a white plastic hospital bag as I'm cursing under my breath. I dart out of the curtain and realize everyone is scrambling around trying to figure out who the hell is on the PA system. My parents come running over to me.

"Laiss who the hell is that?" my mother and that damn demanding tone of hers.

"There is literally no time to explain mom please….lets just get out of here and fast…" I say grabbing her by the hand. She gives me a look and so does my father. "You have to trust me!"

The voice from the loud speaker speaks again and my parents and I start running for the front entrance. "No? No one knows where she is? Well now…let's see how fast you all find her. If she isn't out front of this hospital in five minutes…I will blow this hospital sky high. Starting….now. Oh….and have a nice day!" then we hear maniacal laughter and everyone starts running around faster and we hear a few screams about evacuating.

I stop dead and turn around the other way since I was heading for the front door, and my mother yanks on me. "Laiss what the hell is going on who is that and where the hell are you going??"

"_Mom!_" I turn around and glare at her. "Seriously mom, there is no time to explain anything to you. All I can tell you right now is that man isn't _fucking_ kidding!" My father gives me the look and says don't use that language young lady what the hell is going on and I cut him off, "You can interrogate me in the damn car, now _move!!_" I say as we burst through the side doors.

"Can't the police take care of this??" My father asks as we run up on the car.

"Dad by the time the police get here it will be too late, now drive!" I say jumping in the back seat and my parents get in the front. My dad starts the car and begins driving the car out of the hospital parking lot. As we come around the front of the hospital I see three white vans and an 18 wheeler. There are men in clown masks armed with guns and threatening to shoot anyone that tries to come out of the hospital. Then I look over and see the Joker perched on the hood of someone's car just waiting. I shrink down in the seat and shriek. _Oh my God how the hell did he get here! How did he know what hospital I was at! What the hell!_

"Laiss what the hell is that matter!" My mother says looking around and then she spots the commotion, and more accurately, him. "What….the…._hell!" _I see my father look over from the drivers seat.

"Who the hell is that? Is that…" he says as he slows down, leaning over slightly and squinting.

"_DAD DRIVE!!_" I scream from the back seat and he steps on it and we are gone down the road. I peer back over the seat at the hospital parking lot and let out a huge sigh. I reach in my back pocket to inspect my phone. Somehow it was shut off during the whole accident and I turn it back on and immediately text messages from Sadie and Patrick come rolling in, and a few voice mails_. I'll deal with you two later._

"Alright Laiss, what in God's name is going on and who was that?" Before I can get out an answer, there is a huge explosion behind us that rattles the entire vehicle. I shriek as I realize that hospital wasn't evacuated. My mother and father gasp as they are both looking in the direction of the hospital.

"_That fucking bastard!_" I cry out, tears streaming down my face as I'm peering over the back seat watching the smoke. I can hear police sirens and fire truck sirens blaring in the distance.

"Laiss Serenity Wyatt!! That is not the kind of language I want to hear from my daughter!" My father yells out at me.

"He killed all those people…because of me…" something dark is stirring inside of me. "I should of just went with him…" I wipe the tears off my face.

"Laiss are you _crazy_?" My mother turns around and looks at me from the front seat.

"Laiss who is that? Is that Patrick? Or is that someone else? Why didn't you tell the police? And who put that card down your shirt?" My father now has his all famous demanding tone out.

"No it wasn't Patrick. I can't tell you who that is you wouldn't believe me." I sit up and squeeze my eyes shut. _If I could just have five damn minutes where I'm not so on edge it would be nice. _"Just get me to grandma's." I open my eyes back up and notice my parents giving each other funny looks. I can tell they want to ask more but they know me and they know how stubborn I am and won't answer any more questions right now._ I can't go home…he will walk through that mirror at me again._

"Laiss we are going home. If you want to go to grandma's after we can but…" I don't even wait for my dad to finish.

"Dad if you take me home that _lunatic_ will find me there. Trust me."

"How? Does he know where you live?"

"You could say that…" I mutter.

Both my parents look at each other in a state of confusion.

"Laiss, we are going home first. You can eat and take a shower and change clothes I know you'll want to. Then if you want we will take you to your grandma's." My mother says not looking at me.

"Fine." I say dryly. _I know what will happen if I go home. Or will it?_

* * *

"Alright Doc…I'm going to ask you just one more time…" The Joker hisses as he runs the knife blade closer to Doctor Lasek's throat. "Where is Laiss Wyatt?"

"I-I told you…I don't know. She must of ran out of the hospital…" The Joker makes a small cut into the Doctors neck and she struggles and he squeezes her harder.

"Obviously she ran out of the hospital. I meant where is she uh going because she didn't go home…" the Doctors eyebrows furrow, wondering how he knew I wasn't at home.

"I-I don't…she said something about she wanted to go to her grandma's before she got into the accident…she might of gone there."

"And do we know where grandma lives?" he says pushing the knife blade into her throat harder.

"No…I told you….I know her home address and her cell phone number and her house number but…" The Joker eyes glitter at the Doctors words.

"You know her cell phone number?" He cocks his head and taps the knife at the Doctors throat. "Tell me the number."

* * *

"What the hell do you mean the prints don't match any thing in the database. You mean the _entire_ national database?" Detective Loren throws papers back at a very young rookie cop.

"Sir I'm telling you, that card has prints, but none that match anything in our database. The card itself isn't even copyrighted or made by any known manufacturer. I mean…"

"Then check the fucking international database. Get Interpol on the horn if you have to God damn it. I want this crazy bastard found and brought down. He's already destroyed St. Elizabeth's hospital and caused a shit load of other headaches for me. And it seems no one can catch the slippery little bastard…" the detective is cut off by a female officer rushing into his dank office.

"Sir, you may want to get a look at channel five news…" She says, her voice shaking.

"Oh Christ, what now…" He reaches onto his desk and grabs his remote and clicks the television on that's sitting in the corner of his office.

"…I repeat, this is a brand new tape we've just received here at our studio from an anonymous source. This image is very disturbing so please if you have children in the room you should ask them to leave at this time…" it then switches to a homemade looking tape and Doctor Lasek is sitting there tied to a chair with papers in her hands. She's obviously distressed as she begins reading from the papers.

"This is an announcement to all the citizens of Shrieveport. I'm looking for something I lost that belongs to me. I'm looking for a Miss Laiss Wyatt. She's short and has long blonde hair. You probably all know who she is anyways. If my property isn't returned to me within one hour, I will blow up either one of your shopping malls, another hospital, or one of your schools. You can return my property to me by bringing her to her house at 1008 Williams Street, Shrieveport, and making sure she doesn't leave there. Oh and I want her in one piece. Oh and if one hair is out of place on her pretty little head, I will go through with my fireworks. Have a fantastic day everyone." Laughter fills the tape as it spins and shuts off.

"Dear God in heaven…." The male rookie cop breaths out as the news reporter comes back on.

"Fuck me…where are they right now?" Detective Loren asks the female cop.

"No one knows. Everyone at the hospital is…" she closes her eyes and tries not to show she's about ready to cry because her sister worked at that hospital.

"Do we have her parents cell number still, Dave?" Detective Loren says pulling his cell phone off of his belt.

"Yes I have it right here." The rookie says as he pulls a paper out of the mess the Detective threw at him and hands it to him and he immediately starts dialing.

* * *

Silence filled the vehicle since my parents have flat out refused to just take me to my grandmothers where I will be safe. I can't take it anymore.

"Alright…" I say sighing.

"Alright what?" my father looks at me from his rearview mirror.

I look at him and try to find the words "If…I tell you what's going on….will you _please_ take me to grandma's and not home?' I say to him giving him my best little girl look.

"I'll think about it." He says.

"Harry!" My mother snaps.

"Look, if she's willing to tell us what on God's green earth is going on I think we can take her to your mothers. So Laiss…what's going on?" my dad looks back at me then back at the road.

"Well, it all started a couple weeks ago when I started having….very strange dreams. I wanted to go talk to grandma about them because you know how she is with dream interpretation…but then I got caught up with friends and enjoying the summer and I…I just…" all at once I feel a tingling in my head, and I hear something that almost sounds like…voices? _Oh great now I'm hearing voices!_

"You just what honey?" my dad says.

"I was passing them off as just dreams. But they were so real. So real in fact that I was able to touch and taste and smell in them. So real I would wake up with…objects right out of my dreams that I still had in my hands when I was in the dream…I know it sounds crazy but….its the dead truth. And then, last night….well…." I'm cut off by my mothers cell ringing.

"Wait hold that thought Laiss…" my mother reaches down and answers her phone. "Hello?...yes this is her…_**what?!**_..." the way my mother says it makes both me and my father jump. "Are you serious?...this has to be some kind of joke!..." My mother reaches over and turns the radio on and tunes it and then turns it up.

"…and the search is still on for Laiss Wyatt and the homicidal mad man that is searching for her. Please if anyone knows where Laiss Wyatt is please tell her not to head home to come straight to the police station. Again, for those of you just tuning in, a mad man has made a bomb threat on numerous places including all shopping malls, hospitals and schools if he doesn't find Laiss Wyatt within the hour at her home. Police have no idea what exactly his motives are, why he is searching for Laiss Wyatt or even who this man is, all we are aware of is that Laiss Wyatt is in fact missing and was last seen at St. Elizabeth's hospital leaving the parking lot before it was destroyed. Please be on the look out for an 18 wheeler followed by five white vans in the Shrieveport area as this is the caravan of the man and his men. If you see these vehicles, get off the road, there have been confirmed reports of these vehicles running people off the road or shooting their cars to get them out of the way. The causalities from these chaotic string of events is rising at an alarming rate, with an estimated three thousand people dead-" my father reaches over and clicks the radio off and gives me a look in the rearview.

_Three thousand people….dead….because of me._

My mother sighs. "Yes, I'm still here Detective. I…I didn't want to believe you…" she goes silent for a few minutes as he's talking. "Yes, we have a safe place to take her. We will take her to…ok I will." My mother snaps her phone shut and throws it on the floor.

"Laiss. I'm going to ask you this just once." My mother is obviously angry and scared. "Who the hell is this guy?"

'Mom…you wouldn't-" my mother snaps at me.

"WOULDN'T WHAT LAISS!!" She screams as she turns and looks at me. "This isn't one of your little God damn games Laiss. People are getting killed. Who the hell is it!" I can see the fury in her eyes.

"Denise enough." My father shoots her an even angrier look.

"No Harry! No! Damn it. She's in danger for her life. Everyone is. This is out of hand. Laiss so help me, if I find out you've chatted with some psycho off the Internet.." This time I cut my mother off.

"Mom! For God's sakes its no one from this world!!" I snap and regret I said it.

"What do you mean its no one from this world!" My mother slams herself around in the seat and gives me a hard look.

"DENISE THAT'S ENOUGH!!" My father yells and both my mother and I shake. "Enough….its enough. Yelling at her isn't going to help anything. Laiss, honey, please….is this someone you know at all?"

"Dad I swear to you….on grandpa's soul…its no one from the Internet, school or anything and its no one from our world. I know its crazy but I'm telling the truth here. Take me to grandma's, I will explain everything there. I should of went to her weeks ago about this and never did and now I've let that mad man loose!" I start silently crying. Everything is starting to get to me. And to make matters worse, the voices in my head are getting louder, and I can feel the Joker's hands on my body from when we were in our ardent embrace. I wipe my face off, angry at my stupid weakness.

"Let him loose? What do you mean let him loose?"

"I'm hungry dad…please…I need to eat…now" My head is starting to get dizzy. _Damn this hypoglycemia._

"Alright honey. Let's go to.." my mother cuts my father off.

"Yes let's just go to the middle of town for a burger and some fries while some crazy bastard wearing dirty clown makeup in an 18 wheeler is trolling around looking for our seventeen year old daughter Harry!"

"Clown makeup?!" My dad says confused, and my heart tightens.

"That's what the detective said. They have pictures of this guy. He apparently looks almost identical to the movie character the Joker out of that new Batman movie. It was the same guy we saw out front of the hospital."

"Dad…please…" I give him a pathetic look from the backseat.

"Denise you know she has to eat. She hasn't eaten since God knows when….it won't take but five minutes out of our way and I will go to the Taco Bell on the way to your mothers. Its on the way out of town we should be alright."

"Alright fine. But hurry up. I want to get to my mothers so we are safe….and so we can get to the bottom of this."

I pick up my phone and look at all the messages waiting for me. Just random messages from Sadie and Patrick. I pick up the phone and dial Sadie's number.

"Who are you calling?" My mother says from the front seat.

"Sadie so she knows I'm alright….Sadie?...Whoa….whoa calm down honey! Don't cry sheesh I'm alright. Well sort of. I mean I am but you know. Yes. Dude would you do me like the biggest favor ever? Would you please go over to my house-well not right now- but like in a little while, and as quick as you can, grab like all my clothes and my lap top and the charger for that and my phone charger and yes that too…..yes all my crap from the bathroom. Yes use that to carry it in that's fine. Bring it all over to my grandma's. Yes I'm pretty sure she will let you stay considering the circumstances. Please be careful. You remember where you're going right-no don't say it over the phone. Why? I don't know why they just always say that in like the movies. Alright I will see you there in like an hour." I sigh as I hang up the phone.

"Laiss…" my mother says from the front seat looking at me. "You do realize that he might be at the house…"

"I know mom and so does Sadie. But you know Sadie…." I trail off because I'm staring to get unusually sleepy.

My mother sighs as she watches my eyes flutter and her eyes soften. "Try to get some rest sweetheart."

I smile at her and yawn as I grab the blanket laying beside me and lean up against it on the door and close my eyes.

_I just want this to be over with… _

* * *

"Did you get it?" The Joker is huddled over in the back of one of his white vans staring at a computer screen littered among various other computers and equipment.

The man sitting at the computer turns around and takes off his headphones and pushes his dirty glasses up and his face twitches slightly.

"Y-Yes boss. She didn't say exactly where she was going though, just to grandma's. One of her little friends is on her way to Laiss's house right now to pick up her stuff and bring it to her grandma's…" his voice is as mousey as his body.

The Joker's eyes twinkle. "Is that right…" he turns around and exits the van by jumping to the ground. He turns around and looks at all his men scattered around in the abandoned warehouse. "Well boys, uh, we have a date with Laiss's little friend….let's roll out!" He skips off to his 18 wheeler singing 'over the river and through the woods to grandma's house we go.'

From the corner of the warehouse, in the darkest shadows, stands a tall figure dressed totally in black. His brown eyes glaring from under his mask at the Joker as he crawls into his 18 wheeler.


	4. and everyone looses their minds

_**Laiss:**_ You still haven't expanded my character Phoenix! You said I wouldn't be a fluff!

_**Phoenix:**_ I'm workin on it Laiss relax!

_**JOKER:**_ (makes kissy face and talks baby talk) awww but I wike you all fwuffy!

_**Laiss:**_ THAT'S NOT FUNNY!! ( tries to kick Joker while he's laying on the ground)

_**JOKER:**_ (grabs Laiss's foot and knocks her over and she starts squealing)

_**Phoenix:**_ (smacks forehead) Guys _seriously_! Well I want to thank my loyal readers and reviewers and as a reward here is chapter 4. Oh and if you review I will send Joker to your house naked (smiles slyly).

_**Laiss and JOKER:**_ _**What?!**_

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _**I figured I should add this for those of you who aren't quite sure what "mo anam cara" means. It's literal translation means "friend of my soul" or "friend of the soul". It also can be translated to mean "my soul mate" or just plain "soul mate" so when the term pops up in this story from time to time, I'm using it in the "my soul mate" or "soul mate" context.

* * *

Chapter 4:

I can feel the heat from his body pressed into mine as he holds me up against a wall. His hands are forcefully gripping my hips as he grinds himself into me, and my legs are curled around his waist tightly. My arms are wrapped around his broad shoulders and I can feel how muscular he is, even under all his clothing. The power radiating off him in all forms is almost too much to bear. His lips are pressed against mine in a furious and passionate kiss. My eyes are squeezed tightly shut, and I can feel the tears starting to well up in the corners of my eyes from the swell of uncontrolled emotions inside of me. I don't need to see the man I'm holding so tenderly to know who it is. My very soul recognizes his sweet smell, touch and taste-his very essence is imprinted into me. He moves back away from me and I open my eyes and look into his eyes longingly, and then I realize something very odd and startling-he isn't wearing his makeup. I can see his face. He isn't just handsome, he's absolutely stunning. The scars on the sides of his mouth accentuate his breathtaking beauty, and give him a surreal quality. His hair is different as well. Instead of its normal wild, wet dim blonde green tinted look, its actually a shade of light platinum blonde and is well groomed and fluffy looking. The dramatic lightness of his hair matched against the striking black color of his eyes adds more depth to every little detail of his features. I notice he isn't wearing his traditional purple overcoat, or his green vest. He's wearing….a black tuxedo??

His eyes are filled with an emotion I can't even place-could that be…love? He slowly runs his hands up my body to my lower back and picks me off the wall. This is when I realize, I'm not in my normal street clothes. I feel the clothing I'm wearing come fluttering down around his legs. I look down and realize I'm in a shock white gossamer dress made of pure silk and chiffon, but I'm not wearing any shoes. I can feel under the dress I'm wearing absolutely nothing. _Oh my god...am I...naked under this!!...am I wearing a wedding dress??_ I also realize my hair has been done in one long French braid, and there is something sitting on top of my head…a tiara? My mind starts cranking with a million thoughts and I start struggling to get down, but he only squeezes tighter.

"Going _somewhere_?" His voice makes me jump. It's not the normal harsh evil voice he has. I've heard this voice once before, when he was comforting me during our first meeting.

"Wha-I-how-where….uh…" the words won't even form. I look up into his face and he's smiling at me. Not one of his insane smiles, but a genuine smile.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to do it right here my love….I just couldn't help myself." He cocks his head at me and gently moves his hands down under me and flips me around so that one of his arms is under my knees and the other under my back. I reach up out of instinct and gently grab him around his neck with both arms, and he curls me up slightly so I'm pushed up against his chest. Hey it's a long way down from this height! I turn to my right and I realize I'm in a long hallway. The walls are cream colored and the floors are a deep cherry wood color, with a thick purple runner carpet down the entire length of the hallway. I can see doorways, some of them with shut doors and some of them with open doors. At the end of the hallway about thirty feet away, is one giant door and doorway. I recognize that door…but from where? I peek over his arm and realize we must of come from down the other end of this hallway and this hallway seems to go on forever. He starts walking forwards toward that giant doorway.

Then what he says hits me and my mouth starts working. "_What?!_ We aren't doing what right here! Where are you taking me! What is going on!!" I'm becoming frantic as I look up into his face. I'm too scared to struggle and barely able to work the courage to speak to him.

He looks down into my wild eyes and smiles knowingly at me and shakes his head. "Seriously Laiss…are you going to start that again?"

"Start what again?! You put me down right now _Joker!_" He stops in his tracks and gives me a strange look.

"Joker?" he cocks one eyebrow at me as if he's mocking me and licks his lips.

"_Jack…his name is Jack…_" I hear a voice in my head say.

"Jack?" I look around swearing that voice came from around us somewhere.

"That's better…" he looks up and continues walking forward and we are almost at the door.

_Oh God…this is insane! I must be dreaming! I have to dreaming! I've fallen asleep in the back of the car on the way to…where was I going? Wait…what?? _

"And here we are…" he says as he reaches up and opens the door and pushes it open. He walks in and its pitch black inside the room and its cool. It makes me shiver slightly and curl tighter to him. Then I smell the room. I recognize that smell. _But from where?? _

Then I feel something tapping my knee.

"Laiss…Laiss honey…honey?" My eyes flutter open and I realize I'm in the car with my parents still and its my mom tapping me on the knee. I jump awake and my heart starts pounding. _It was a dream. It was just a dream Laiss, calm down. _I say rubbing my eyes and sitting up breathing heavy. _But it seemed so real. _I can still feel his lips, and I can still see the desire in his eyes.

"Laiss, we're at Taco Bell. What do you want to eat?" my mom says.

"Oh…I…one soft steak taco with the lime sauce and a medium diet Pepsi." I say yawning and looking out the window at the order screen.

My father orders the food and pays for it as we drive off. The workers all there give us funny looks, they obviously know who I am they see me there all the time when I go spend time with my grandma. He reaches around and hands me my food and I eat it fast in the backseat because man I was starving. The dream is still haunting me as we are driving along. I can almost feel him holding me still. I could of swore I saw love in his eyes. _How stupid, that's not even possible. That monster doesn't even know what love is. _My eyes start to shimmer with tears._ How foolish was I to think that someone like him could ever actually love someone like me. _I clench my jaw and my teeth grind slightly at my foolishness and I ball my fists up and I feel my nose flare and I let out a small rush of air out of my nose in frustration. _If I ever see that rotten fucker again, I'm going to punch him square in his jaw and all those years of boxing lessons from grandpa will finally pay off._

"Laiss? Are you alright?" my dad is looking at me in the rearview.

"Yeah…" I say trying not to burst into tears or put my fist through the window.

* * *

Down the street from my house, the Joker and his five white vans are parked out of sight. The Joker is tapping the steering wheel and humming to himself. He's intently watching the driveway of my house for any cars that might pull in.

"Boss why aren't we inside the house waiting?" A man wearing a clown mask sitting next to the Joker in the cab of the truck says, breaking the Joker's little nonsense humming.

"I thought I told you I don't like repeating myself." The Joker glares at him licking his lips.

"Right. So we don't scare the girl off and she can't run or get away and will lead us to Laiss. I still don't understand what the big deal is with this Laiss girl. I mean its just some bitch and…" he's cut off by a sawed off shotgun shoved into the side of his head smacking it against the window.

"_What_ did you just call her?" The Joker hisses baring his teeth.

"I-I didn't mean it like that boss….I just meant I don't understand why we are after this girl…none of us really do." he says shaking.

"All in good time. You'll all uh thank me when you realize what she's capable of. Oh and, if you _ever_ insult her again, I won't hesitate next time." The Joker pushes the guys head into the glass harder then puts the gun back down by his left side. He would of shot his head clean off but he needs all his men right now, he knows batman is lurking around in this world as well.

* * *

Turning down my road, Sadie is fumbling with her radio stations.

"Couldn't there be any good music on for fuck's sakes…" she mutters rolling her chocolate brown eyes and pushing her short brown hair behind her ears. She sighs as she realizes why all the radio stations are either off or doing emergency broadcastings.

Pulling into the drive way, she's unaware of the Joker watching her. Getting out of the car she realizes he could be inside there and starts shaking a little. 'I should of called the police to come with me…' then she shakes her head realizing that if he was in there, the cops would of found him by now since they were crawling all over the neighborhood, and earlier they had been all over the house.

Reaching in her pocket for the keys, her stomach twinges and her mouth goes dry.

"Get a grip Sadie…" she whispers to herself as she unlocks the door and pushes the door open. She turns over her shoulder and peeks around but sees nothing so she walks in and closes the door. 'Move Sadie move…move...move…move….' She's thinking to herself as she runs up the stairs to my room. She runs into the bathroom first and rolls the shower door back, grabbing all my shower supplies, then reaches up to the sink and grabs my toothbrush and toothpaste. Opening the closet near the door to the bathroom, she pulls out a small toiletry bag and stuffs everything inside. Running down the hall to my room she stops dead when she hears someone rustling around in my parents room. The noise stops then starts again. She makes a mad dash for my room and starts flinging my drawers open as quietly as she can. Her hands are shaking as she's throwing every article of clothing on the bed as neatly as she possibly can. She reaches under my bed and yanks out the tan leather suitcase and starts stuffing it full of clothes. Hearing a car horn blasting outside as it drives by makes her jerk and look out the window towards the afternoon sun. "Jesus H. Christ asshole…'

Reaching under my bed she pulls the lap top and the power cord out and shoves it in the suitcase, and then the cell phone charger from beside the bed. 'Move…move…move Sadie' Her hands are shaking badly now and she can barely pick anything up. Finally she gets everything into the suitcase and zips it up, grabbing it and the toiletry bag she rushes down the stairs and out the front door to her car. Opening the trunk she looks over her shoulder and looks around to make sure no one is behind her or watching. Sure that no eyes are on her, she quickly tosses the suitcase and toiletry bag into the trunk and slams it shut. She runs around the drivers side and jumps in, buckling herself quickly and starting the car at the same time. Flooring it, she squeals out of the driveway and turns right and guns it down the road.

Little does she know that behind her, the Joker and his men are following. And little does the Joker know that behind them, batman is following them trying to stay out of sight.

* * *

"No…please I don't want to….I'm not ready….please….stop…" I'm struggling for air with the Joker laying on top of me between my legs holding me tightly by the wrists.

"Oh I think you are…" he whispers in between gently kissing my neck.

I start squirming fiercely but he doesn't stop his ministrations on my neck.

"STOP!!" I shriek out as he sinks his teeth into my neck, biting down only slightly.

He leans up and I look into his eyes. My heart is pounding and I'm panting. The makeup that was on his face is all but smeared off, and his traditional clothing is rumpled. He looks down at me and smiles.

"Please…please don't do this to me….I'm not ready…" I whisper out trying to invoke compassion in him.

"Shhhh…." He whispers as he leans down and tenderly presses his lips to mine, making me squeeze my eyes shut. I try to turn my head but he nips my bottom lip and when I open my mouth to yelp, he engulfs my mouth with his, swirling his hot tongue around in my mouth. I have no choice but to kiss him back.

I feel him take my hands and forcefully shove them above my head and grasp both my tiny wrists in his left hand. I try to wriggle free from his grip but he's way too strong, and I start jerking as I feel him running his warm bare hand slowly down my side. This is when I realize…I'm wearing a long night shirt but I'm not wearing any pants or panties. I start trying to thrash around but he has his tongue so far down my throat I can't barely move or even moan for more than a second.

I feel him lift up slightly and then his hand comes around my stomach and down in between my legs and I start bucking my hips. I can feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes as my chest starts hurting from the emotional rush. _Not like this. Please not like this. I don't want my first time to be this way._

He breaks the kiss and tilts his head down, and I hear the most terrifying noise I've even heard in my life. It's the sound of a zipper coming down.

"NOOOO!! Please no….pleaseeeeeee not like this…..please….." I start thrashing around under him and I can feel his grip tighten on my writs causing me to wince in pain. I can feel him shifting around pulling his manhood out of his pants.

"Now stop that…you keep that up and it'll uh _hurt_…" he whispers tilting his head up and giving me a wicked grin.

"Jack….please….not like this…." My words cause his eyes to soften marginally.

"I promise to be gentle…I'm a man of my word Laiss…" he says softly to me as I feel him shift up. Then I feel something very hard against my sweet area and my eyes grow wide. His manhood is massive and its burning hot. I feel him move it so that it's poised and ready for penetration.

"Please Jack…don't…do this…to me…" I gasp, my voice shuddering violently.

"Shhhh…." He says pushing forward slightly looking into my eyes.

"NOOOO!!" I start jerking at the feeling of slight pressure on my most delicate area.

"Laiss….Laiss!" I hear my fathers voice as I come out of the dream and I jump awake my eyes wild and my heart beating fiercely. _That was too real_…

"Laiss we're here….come on honey." My mother is standing on the outside of the vehicle. I sit there for a minute wiping away the sweat that has beaded up on my forehead. "Laiss are alright?" my mother leans over and looks in the car at me.

"Yeah….I'm alright." I whisper stumbling out of the car on shaky legs. I can still feel him on top of me, whispering to me. I can still smell him and I can taste his sweetness in my mouth. This is when I realize how wet my panties are. I was actually very aroused at the thought of him deep inside of me, making me his. I shake my head to clear the dream out and then I look up.

Oh how I love this place. In front of me is a lush green lawn, a lawn I spent most of my childhood playing in. The familiar straight stone path way stretching out almost forever. Two Victorian style fountains spraying cascades of sparkling water high into the air. I smile at the memories of the stern reminders my grandpa use to give me about swimming in them. _I'm home_, I think to myself as I look fondly upon the old crimson colored Victorian style mansion sprawled out in front of me like a silent old friend. The dark green vines that wind up the front and sides of the house make it look like an old castle. Pine trees heavily line the edges of the property, as does a chain link fence behind the pine trees. An instant feeling of serenity and comfort wash over me as I began walking up the walk way.

As I'm walking up the steps to the porch, I hear that voice in my head again. Disembodied and unclear, like a million voices murmuring something to me. My knees get weak and I start to wobble. My father puts his arm under mine to steady me.

"Laiss are you alright?" I look up at my dad.

"Yes…just…tired I guess." The voices are still buzzing in my head.

"You've had quite the ordeal. Let's get you inside and you can take a hot shower and hopefully Sadie will be here soon with your clothes." My mother walks up and strokes my hair and then walks towards the door to ring the door bell.

After a few seconds the door comes open and the familiar smell rolls out of grandma's house. Like apples, cinnamon and incense.

"Laiss…" My grandmothers voice is so soft and sympathetic. Her all-knowing silver eyes look deep into me, and I can tell she is already aware of the situation. Her long silver hair is pulled back in a braid, and she's wearing her traditional white pagan style robe. "Come in my children…" She says motioning us into the house. We walk in and my grandmother closes the door and then takes me in her arms and holds me. Her warm and comforting embrace brings me to tears. Burying my face in her shoulder, I finally let the tears that have been pent up inside me flow. I can feel her motion my parents to go into the family living room and let us be for a minute.

"I'm so scared grandma…" My voice is weak, and I'm shaking as I'm clutching her.

"There, there my child, it's going to be alright…" She's whispers as she's softly petting my hair.

"No…it's not…I'm in real trouble…he's after me…people are dead…I don't know what to do…I don't know how this happened…" my voice is wavering.

"Shhh…it's going to be alright Laiss…Why don't you go up and take a nice hot shower and relax. Your robe is up there. We will talk as soon as you are done." I lean back and look at her and she can tell I'm afraid. "You're safe here, as you always have been." Her smile and soft eyes are so reassuring.

"Ok grandma…" I smile at her and slowly make my way to the grand stair case and make my way up the stairs to the master bathroom.

My grandmother watches me go up and waits until she hears me walk down the hall then makes her way into the family living room to my mother and father. They are both sitting on the white couch and they turn to look at her.

"Can I get you two anything to drink? Tea? Coffee? Soda?" she says as she walks in and sits in her silver chair directly across from my parents. She reaches down and runs her hand across the coffee tables lace cloth while she's looking at my parents.

"Not right now mom maybe when Laiss gets done we can all have some tea…" my mother says rubbing her forehead.

"Alright then. Now…is this situation as bad as its saying on the television and radio?" she says leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.

"Worse." My father says shifting in his seat.

My grandmother lets out a heavy sigh. "That's what I thought. I should of seen this coming. Laiss wasn't quite herself last time she stayed here and she hasn't been in contact with me as much as usual."

"What do you mean you should of seen this coming? You mean you knew some psychopath was after her and you didn't say anything?" My mother eyes grandma suspiciously.

"No I didn't know that some psychopath was after her. And of course I would of said something if I knew that. I meant I could tell something was drastically different with her. I could tell she was in…well the girl is in love."

"In love?!" my father almost jumps out of his seat.

"Indeed. We will talk more about it when Laiss is done with her shower. There is much we all need to discuss." Grandma says as she gets up and walks out of the room towards the kitchen.

My father sighs. "You don't think this has anything to do with…what we are…do you?"

My mother looks at him and the realization finally hits her. "My God Harry…I hope not. That would mean…" she stops and gasps.

"That would mean her abilities have started developing…and that he could be…oh good Lord…" my father says running his hands through his hair and setting his head in his hands.

"He could very well be her mo anam cara…" My mother sighs and puts her hand over her face.

* * *

Grandma's hands are shaking as she's filling the tea pot with water from the tap. She slowly walks over the stove and turns the knob until the fire ignites and the burner is on. Setting the tea pot down she sees a shadow moving out of the corner of her eye and she looks over towards the entrance way to the kitchen and out into the dinning room. Her eye brows furrow when she doesn't see or sense anything there.

* * *

I'm standing in the shower just letting the water run down my back with my eyes closed. I've washed and rinsed everything and now I'm just relaxing and thinking. I can still feel his hands on me, his lips pressed into mine. I shiver and open my eyes to get away from the visual. After a few minutes of enjoying the hot water, I decide its time to get out. I open the curtains and rinse my feet off then step out onto the mat and reach around and turn the knob so the water shuts off. I reach over to the sink and pick up the white towel I've set on the edge. I pick it up and start to dry off, then wrap the towel around my hair. I slip my robe on. _Boy I hope Sadie hurries up with my stuff…better yet I hope she's alright. If he hurt her…I swear I'll jock his jaw._ I brush my teeth with the toothbrush and toothpaste I leave here for when I spend the night and thenI pick up the comb and head down the stairs. I can hear my mother, father and grandmother murmuring softly to one another. As soon as I come into view around the corner they go quiet.

"Ah Laiss there you are. Come, sit my child and have a cup of tea." My grandmother motions to the other silver chair that's sitting right next to her. I always loved this living room. In the late afternoon, the sun always shines through here illuminating the room until its absolutely glowing. If it weren't for the central air, this room would be roasting in this summer heat.

I walk over to the chair and sit down slowly. Reaching for the coffee table I take the silver tea pot off the silver serving tray and fill a porcelain tea cup, then plop a tea bag in to steep.

I notice everyone is staring at me and I look up. "What?" I say looking around at everyone. I can tell everyone wants to speak but doesn't know where to start. They are all looking at each other as I lean back to settle in my chair. Finally my grandmother speaks.

"Laiss, there is something we should of told you years ago. And I believe now is the perfect time to explain a few things to you." She says leaning forward.

"Mom…" my mother is shaking her head.

My grandmother looks at my mother. "No Denise. Its about time the girl knows what she is and where she came from." She looks at me and takes a deep breath. "Your mother, your father, and I as well as many of your other ancestors and family members, are string walkers. Laiss are you at all familiar with string theory?"

"Somewhat. I'm not exactly certain what you're talking about." My eyebrows are together.

"It's a very complicated theory. The part of the theory you need to be aware of and taught about is the fact of parallel dimensions, or universes. They do in fact exist. And there is no set number on how many of them there are. No one can see them, or can get into them. No one…but a string walker."

"Wait…you're telling me….that parallel universes do exist. And that people can go to them?" I say closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Not just any one Laiss. Only a string walker can walk into parallel universes. Only a string walker can…bring a person or an object into our world from that other parallel universe. Only a string walker can combine two universes into one. Only a string walker has telekinetic abilities. A string walker is a very powerful being…" she pauses waiting for a response from me.

I open my eyes and look at her. "Does this mean…that I'm…that I can…"

"Yes Laiss. You are a string walker. You have abilities that you weren't aware of. I think you may have started something that only you can finish. Tell me, have you had any strange dreams lately?"

I look at my parents then to the floor. "Only every time I close my eyes. Every time I sleep…there he is. I can't get away from him. I can't tell the difference between reality and the dream world anymore. I've even pulled out objects from the dreams…" I stop and look up at her.

"I had a feeling this was happening to you. You are going to be eighteen in February and its only natural for your abilities to mature as you do. I know its very cliché, but your eighteenth year is when you fully mature as a string walker. Your abilities will be hard to control and you will want to do things with your abilities that you are going to know are wrong. This is why I was against hiding this from you all your life. But your parents wanted it hidden from you. This is why I've always been after you to do the right thing…"

My mother cuts her off. "Mom we hid it from her because we thought it was for the best." My mother looks at me. "You aren't just any string walker Laiss. You are what is known as a one hundredth generation string walker, or a golden string walker. Every one hundred generations, a string walker is born that is so powerful…they have no limit to their power. Most string walkers such as your father and I, have limits to our abilities. For instance, a string walker can normally stay in a parallel universe for only one week before they start to become weak and sick. The strain against the natural world where ever they are and their own world begins to break down the very fabric of time and space. The two universes collapse on themselves causing a catastrophic chain of events. A golden string walker has an unlimited amount of time…"

Grandma cuts her off shaking her head. "No they don't. They have a full six months which is an extraordinary amount of time."

"Your telekinetic abilities will start to show themselves as you get closer to eighteen." My father leans forward.

"You mean you guys are all telekinetic?" I look at all of them.

Out of no where, the coffee table slowly rises off the ground. "Oh yes Laiss. We just know how to control it and not let it get out of hand. Plus are abilities are extremely limited." My father says as the table slowly moves back down to the floor. "A golden string walker is so powerful, there is no limit on what you can lift. Or throw. Or destroy. Or blow up." My father says as he reaches for his tea.

I lean forward and set my head in my hand. "You mean to tell me, I'm some sort of freak? And I can blow things up with my mind?"

"We aren't freaks. And neither are you Laiss." I look up at my grandmother.

"Well this is all a bit hard to swallow. After all that's gone on….and now this…" I shake my head and take the towel off and begin to dry off my hair and then comb it.

"And that's something I need to talk about with you Laiss…" I look over at my grandmother. "Tell me exactly how you brought him to our world."

"How did you know…" I can't even finish.

"Laiss, I knew what was going on when I talked to your parents. I knew you pulled the Joker into our world. He does in fact exist, that's obvious. Not in our world of course. A lot of ideas for things such as movies that we get are actually channeled from other universes. The Joker is a real person. Just as you are a real person here, he is a real person in his world."

"This is totally unreal…" I say finishing combing my hair and then fixing my tea.

"I understand how overwhelming this all is to you. But we need to know exactly how he came to be in this world." My grandmother says as I'm working, and then reaches down and sips her tea.

"Well…" I take a sip of my tea. "It all started when I first saw the previews for the movie. I started having….very strange dreams. Nothing serious. Then they became increasingly intense. After I saw the movie, they were so real I could taste and smell and feel in them. I actually grabbed a knife from the dream to throw at him, and I woke up with it in my hand because my alarm clock woke me up before I could chuck it at him. And then last night…." I stop squeezing my eyes shut. "He came for me…"

"How did he come for you? Where were you and what were you doing?" My grandmother says, clinking her tea cup to its saucer.

"I was getting ready to go out to watch the movie with Sadie, and she had set me up on a date with Patrick. I figured it was going to be me, her, John which is her boyfriend, and Patrick…but turns out she was setting me up on a solo date." I open my eyes and look at my grandma. "And when I was getting ready she called and was picking on me about never having a boyfriend. And I was looking at the pictures of the Joker on my mirror, and I was sad because he wasn't real and if only he was no one would pick on me because I'd have a boyfriend. I know, I know….school girl stupidity…." I stop trying not to cry.

"And then what?" my father chimes in.

"And then I got off the phone with her, and laid on the bed, and I was sad….and I cuddled my pillow and then looked at the Jokers picture hanging on my mirror and whispered out I wish you were real and then…"

My grandmother cuts me off "Oh dear God in Heaven…" All three of them have the same look of lost hope as they realize he is my mo anam cara. "Wait…did you say the picture was on the mirror?"

"Yes…why?"

"You mean the mirror on her dresser that's been passed down for generations?" My grandmother says looking at my mother and tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair.

"Oh shit…the portal mirror…." My mother puts her hand over her mouth.

"Wait….portal mirror?" I say confused.

"That is no ordinary mirror Laiss. That's no ordinary dresser. That mirror and that dresser were built by a crazed string walker about fifteen generations ago. It was a sure way to always be able to access another universe. We thought it was sealed. Apparently, its not sealed or you opened the seal. Most likely the later, since you are a golden string walker." My grandmother says looking at me. "What happened after you wished him here?"

I shudder at the memory. "The picture he was in….it moved. I mean it was like it wasn't a picture. It was as if it was a television and he could see me. I ran out of the room and there he was. He chased me into the living room at our house and when I backed up into the wall…I backed right into and through another mirror. A giant wooden edged mirror and it was glowing around the edges. He shoved me back through that same mirror and I landed on my rear end in our living room. That's when mom and dad came home and scared me and I ran out of the house and that's when I got in the accident because I was on my way to see you…"

"He had a mirror too?" My grandmother says slowly, obviously thinking. "He must know you're a string walker. And he must know about the mirror. There was a story that came with that mirror. It had a counterpart mirror in the universe he was trying to always be able to access. That must be the counterpart mirror. If that's true, he's know about you your entire life because the other mirror was never sealed and I will bet any amount of money he can see everything going on through that mirror. And he's just been waiting for you. Only thing that doesn't make sense to me, is why you would of went through the living room and not through your mirror. Unless there was a disturbance of some sort to make that happen, you should of went through the mirror on both ends…" she stops as we all hear the front door bell chiming through the house.

"I'll get it…" my father says getting up.

"Its probably Sadie. Thank God I want to get dressed." I say sipping my tea. "Mom…there's something I don't quite understand. If you and dad are telekinetic, why didn't you blast him when you saw him at the hospital?" I say putting my tea cup down.

My mother sighs. "Laiss, our abilities are very limited in that area. Your father won't be able to do anything for a while now since he decided to show off and lift the coffee table. We can't just move things and blow things up at will. It's an enormous strain on us. The only string walkers that can use that power almost unlimited are golden string walkers. When you near your eighteenth birthday, your powers will increase. You will need to learn to harness and control them. Also, never ever use them in front of others. The council would have a fit."

"Council? What council?" I'm so confused.

My grandmother leans forward and I look at her. "There is a council of elders that make the laws and the rules that govern all string walkers. They are the police of the string walker community for lack of a better term. They are also the judge, jury and Lord forbid, the executioner. If a string walker breaks the rules set down many years ago, the most likely punishment is death. Some have gotten away with life in hiding. Its enough to make any string walker strictly obey the laws. You are still young yet, and the rules still don't apply to you. When you reach eighteen the laws apply to you. It's our job as your family to teach you about the rules. The main rule is never use your abilities in public. The second rule is to never, under any circumstance, harm an innocent person with your abilities. There are other rules and most of them are common sense. OH and there is something very important you need to know about this Joker person, he is…" My grandmother stops as my father and Sadie come into the room.

"Sadie! You made it! Are you ok?" I say jumping up and walking over to her to hug her.

"Yes I'm alright, I'm just glad you're alright." We hug quickly.

"Alright, I'm going to go get dressed. Sadie come with me. I will be right back." I say walking out of the room and taking Sadie by the hand. I stop and look at my grandma. "Is it ok if she stays the night?"

"Of course Laiss, you know your friends are welcome here. But we still need to talk when you are done. There is much we still need to discuss." She smiles as she waves us upstairs.

"Thanks grandma!!" I say walking out with Sadie in tow.

* * *

"She wished him here…there is no doubt in my mind now that he is her mo anam cara. Why didn't I see this coming!" My grandmother says getting up and pacing the living room.

"Mom there was no way any of us could of known. I mean yes she's a golden string walker but that doesn't necessarily mean…"

Grandma cuts her off. "Denise…a golden string walker's mo anam cara is _always_ from another universe. You know that. It's the way things work. Every one hundred generations, two universes combine to recycle the energy and make room for brand new universes. This one is dangerous though. I've seen that movie. And if he's anything like his movie counterpart, we are all in big trouble…"

"That man has no empathy….no sympathy…no compassion….doesn't understand the meaning of love. How can you say he's out daughters mo anam cara?" My father strains out, leaning up in his seat. "How in the name of all that is sane can you even suggest that mad man is her true love?!"

"I don't make the rules Harry! Damn it! If its written in the damn stars that he is her mo anam cara then he is and he will be her perfect match!" My grandmother is flailing her arms around.

"Alright let's not fight with each other that isn't going to do us any good. The question is what are we going to do about this? Is there any way to undo what has been done?" My father sinks back into his seat.

"I'm afraid not. Once her heart has founds its other half, everything is set in motion. They were destined to be together, since even before either one of them were born."

"How can we let out daughter marry someone like that? He will abuse her….he is insane…" my father is getting really upset now.

"We don't know that Harry. I doubt Laiss would tolerate an abusive mate. You know how she is. You know her personality. She's a sweet girl and will probably tame him….at least we can hope." My grandmother is looking out the window and her eyes go wide at what she is seeing. "Oh no…" she breaths.

* * *

"You weren't followed were you?" I say as I let her hand go and we walk up the stairs.

"No I don't think I was. I didn't see anyone behind me. Well not out of the ordinary anyways. My God what a cluster fuck this all is!! Did anyone figure out who that maniac is yet?" She whispers as we are walking down the hall to my room.

"Oh yeah. It's the Joker." I say nonchalantly as I walk into the room I stay at when I come over to grandmas. I turn and look at Sadie and she's looking at me like I have two heads.

"Oh very funny Laiss! Now who is it?" She says coming in and flopping down in the arm chair near the wall.

"I'm serious Sadie. It's the Joker. He comes from his own world and I pulled him into this world. It's a long story." I say as I look over at the bed and realize her and my father must of carried my bags up because they are laying on the bed.

"You're serious aren't you?" She says as I open the cases and pull out my powder and deodorant.

"Dead serious Sadie. I told you it's a long story. All I really know is that he really does exist, and that I pulled him out into this world somehow because I apparently am something called a string walker…" I stop as I look at the expression on her face. "What?" I say taking my robe off and putting my deodorant and powder on then I pull out some clothes.

"Nothing its just…my mother use to tell me a story when I was a kid about people called string walkers. She said they were magical beings that could walk between the dimensions. And that they had a higher life expectancy than most humans. And that they were...they could throw things without touching them…I thought it was just a story…" Her eyes are wide.

"You mean telekinetic." She shakes her head yes, and then it hits me. "You and me have been friends since birth right?"

"Yeah…"

"I bet your mom and dad know about my mom and dad since they knew each other before we were born." I say getting dressed and stuffing my little brush and cell phone into my pockets.

"I bet you're right. I bet that's why she use to tell me that story. Just so when this day came I wouldn't freak or not believe you." Sadie says laying her head back and closing her eyes. "Wow this is so fuckin unreal…"

From downstairs, we hear a thundering crash and both of us jump and look at each other. Then I hear my mother scream and my heart jumps into my throat.

"What the fuck…" Sadie starts getting up.

"No…stay here. I will go see what the hell is going on." I slip out of the room and down the dark hallway to overlook on the stairs and listen.

From the living room where my family is, I can hear voices. Then I hear the voice that makes my blood run cold.

"I asked you all once. Where is Laiss." The Joker hisses. No one responds. "Come on now. I just need to talk with her about something….something little. No?" I hear my grandmother gasp.

"Oh God….how did he find me!" I whisper out, tears starting to well up in my eyes.


	5. on to Gotham

_**JOKER: **_(Pulls out knife and walks at Phoenix)You think that's funny _Phoenix_??

_**Phoenix:**_ (pulls out pistol and points at the Joker) Why yes….yes I do! Now get goin you got like four people to go visit…oh and drop the clothes…(winks)

_**JOKER:**_ (groans, and starts taking his clothes off)

_**Laiss:**_ (giggling wildly, distracting Phoenix and Joker grabs her gun away)

_**Phoenix and Laiss:**_ (gasps)

_**JOKER:**_ (walks at Laiss and Phoenix with his shirt off and knife in hand) Not so _funny_ now is it…

_**Laiss**_: Shit! Run!!

_**Phoenix:**_ (starts running with Laiss) I would like to thank all my loyal readers and reviewers!! If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't have the will to keep going with this story!

_**AUTHORS NOTE: **_So, I was squirming around in my seat writing part of this chapter…if you can guess what part it was, I'll give you a cookie!!

* * *

Chapter 5: On to Gotham

Running back down the hall, I see Sadie standing in the doorway of my bedroom. "What's going on?! What was all the noise?!" She's almost shrieking and I reach up and put my hand over her mouth and shove her in the room quietly shutting the door behind us. "Laiss what the hell is going on!" Now she's shrieking.

"SHHHHH!!" I hiss out at her standing with my back against the door. I click the light off in the room. The faint light coming from outside barely lights the room past the drapes.

"What's going on?" Sadie whispers.

"He's here….he's down there with my family now…oh my _fucking_ GOD Sadie! What the hell am I gonna do!!" I squeak out.

"Is he alone? Can't your mom and dad kick his ass? Or your grandmother?"

"I don't know why they aren't blasting him into next week or something!! He's gonna find me and then…" I stop whispering as I sense something coming down the hall. My stomach starts fluttering and then tightens, making me shudder. "Shit….Sadie…" my eyes are wide now and my heart is starting to thunder in my chest.

"What?!" She comes over to me and puts her hands on my shoulders.

"Shhhhh…" I breath out. "He's coming!!"

"How do you know that!" She breaths at me.

"I can…I can feel him….I can feel his presence..." I stop as I hear someone walk by the room. Sadie hears it too because her eyes get wide and she squeezes me. And then I do the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life. I couldn't help it. When I get really scared and nervous, I sneeze. Without warning. My sneezes are very delicate, but they do make some noise. Just loud enough to hear. After I sneeze and open my eyes Sadie is standing there with her mouth open and her eyes as wide as they can go. I heard the footsteps stop when I sneezed and now they are coming back towards the door.

"Shit….the closet…._get in the fucking closet!_" I breath out as we both start tip toeing as fast as we can to the closet. Once inside, I silently shut the door and lock it from the inside. I feel around in the dark and find Sadie and we both crash into each other and cling onto one another for dear life.

"You and you're fucking nervous sneezing!!" Sadie breaths in my ear.

"Shhhh he'll hear you!!" I breath back as we are shaking and holding each other.

The door to the room swings open and I swear to God he's going to hear both of our hearts thundering in our chests and shaking. The tears well up in my eyes and I start silently crying. _Oh God please….please don't let him find me…please please….oh God please…_

"Come out…come out….where ever you are…" his velvety smooth sexy voice almost makes me screech in terror. I can hear him getting closer to the closet and I can see the shadow of his feet from under the door. I start biting my lip to keep my teeth from chattering. I have this overwhelming urge to take a piss now because I'm so nervous. _Please don't let him sense me….please don't let him find me….please great mother….please Goddess….please God….please please…._

Sadie and I both jump and I swallow a scream starting in my throat as we hear him put his hand on the door knob to the closet and try to open it. We are shaking so bad now I swear one of us is going to scream out of sheer terror at any second. The door knob rattles more and then he speaks again as he sets his other hand on the door and taps his fingers.

"Come on out of there Laiss…I can smell you, you know…" I hear him sniff at the crack of the door and I have no idea why but its very arousing and I feel my face get hot. "And you smell so _heavenly_…" his voice is making my pussy wet again. _God damn it stop it….go away….go away… _"I'm not going to hurt you Laiss…I promise..." I hear him run his hand down the door making an eerie noise. "Don't make me come through this door at you _Laiss_…" his voice is getting rougher now and I'm shaking even more if that was even possible. He starts rattling the door knob faster.

"I have an idea…just go with it Laiss….trust me…" Sadie breaths barely audibly in my ear while he's trying to get in the door. I feel Sadie shove me behind all the clothes that are hanging in the closet.

"What are you doing!" I breath in her ear as he starts smashing the door.

"Saving your ass! Now just shut up!" She breaths in my ear as she pushes the clothes over me and shoves my feet up on the shoe rack. It's a good thing I'm light or I'd crush this shoe rack like a tin can.

He starts crashing against the door, snarling like an animal now. "_Laissssssssss_….." he hisses making my back shiver.

Then I hear the closet door lock unclick and the door comes flinging open and a dim light comes through from the windows in the room.

"And who are you?" The Joker says and I hear Sadie shriek. I can hear them scuffling around but I can't see anything. "Well?"

"S-sadie…" I can hear the fear in her voice. _He better not hurt her._ My jaw clenches.

"Sadie hmmm…well now _Sadie_…" I hear him sniff. _Is_ _he sniffing her?? _"Well you sort of smell like her….but not nearly as ethereal. Now _Sadie_…where is Laiss. I know she's uh in this house somewhere….but I'm having quite the time getting any one to talk to me here and tell me where she is. Is it the scars? Wanna know how I got'm?" I hear Sadie gasp.

"Don't kill me…I'll tell you where she is…" Sadie's voice is wavering. _Oh no she's gonna dime me out! _I hear the Joker make a low throaty mmmmhhhmmmm noise. "She's out in the pool house in the back yard hiding from you…that's where she ran when we heard the noise downstairs. I hid in the closet in here."

"Well thank you Sadie…now…I need you to come downstairs and have a seat with the rest of my guests while I go get Laiss from the pool house. My men will make sure you're _uh_ comfortable." I hear them shuffling out of the room and down the hallway. I stand for just a few more minutes on top of the shoe rack and then slowly step down on the floor with shaky legs. _Well now what?_

I slowly make my way out of the closet and stop every few steps to listen. All I can hear is the sound of my own heart pounding in my chest. I quickly put my sneakers on and pull a pink scrunchie around my forearm for later. I peek my head out the door and all I can see is the darkness of the hallway. There is only a tiny bit of daylight left streaming through the far end of the hallway's window. I start tip toeing down the hallway very carefully towards my grandfathers den to get a gun, when I see a figure standing at the end of the hallway. I almost shriek and put my hands up to my mouth. I notice it has two pointy ears on the top of its head.

"Batman?!" I whisper out.

"Yes…are you Laiss Wyatt?" His voice is raspy and strained.

"Yes I am…how did you get here and what the hell are you doing here?" I say tip toeing towards him.

"You opened up various portals in our world to access this world. I'm here to get you out of here before the Joker finds you. He's playing around with something he doesn't fully understand." He whispers stepping towards me.

"I can't just leave my family here alone with that maniac! God knows what he will do to them!" I whisper coming up to him. His eyes are the most brilliant chocolate brown and so soft. He's almost as tall as the Joker but not quite, and he's just a slight bit more muscular.

"I understand how important family is…but we need to get you out of here safely. I can't let him get his hands on you."

"I am not leaving my mother, father, grandmother and my best friend to die at the hands of a psychopath." I cross my arms and crinkle my nose. "You of all people should understand that."

He sighs and I can see the understanding in his eyes. "We can try to get him out of here to come after you so he doesn't hurt your family. But you'll have to be used as bait."

I shudder at the thought of being used as bait for the Joker. "Alright…what's the plan…."

"How fast can you run?" he asks me, walking towards me. My eyes glitter and I smile a Cheshire cat smile.

* * *

­­­"Do you think that's funny telling me she's out there when she's not?" The Joker hisses at Sadie sitting on the couch.

"Well…she was there…"

"I'm going to ask you all one more time, where is Laiss?" The Joker walks around the side of my grandmothers chair and takes a small hand gun out of his pocket and points it at her head.

My grandmother stiffens and whispers, "No one is going to tell you a thing you maniac…"

The Joker gently pushes the gun into her temple and leans down. "Look grandma, I don't _want _to have to uh hurt any of you here. Just tell me where she is, and I'll be out of your hair."

"I'm right here." My voice coming from the darkness of the good living room causes everyone to jump.

The Joker's two men all point their guns at me but he waves his hand to tell them to put them down. They lower the guns and I step into the doorway just barely visible with my hands up.

"Well hello beautiful…" The Jokers says softly to me licking his lips.

"What do you want with me?" I say putting my eyebrows together.

"I want you to come with me. No questions asked." He says putting the gun back in his pocket.

"No questions asked? Not even why you want me to come with you?" I smirk at him and he gives me a nasty look.

"No smart ass. No questions asked." He smirks back smacking his lips.

"Well alright…" I shrug.

The look of confusion on his face is priceless. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop the giggles from coming.

"Laiss are you out of your mind?" My father turns to me.

The Joker starts walking towards me and I put my hand out as if to say stop and surprisingly he does.

"I will come with you…no questions asked….no fighting….on three conditions…"

His eyes glitter. "I don't think you're in any position to uh _negotiate_ Laiss…" he says walking towards me licking his lips slowly.

"Oh…" I raise my eyebrows as I reach down into the back of my shorts and pull out my grandfathers pistol and point it at my head and smile. "I do believe I am…"

The Joker stops dead in his tracks and his mouth opens but he doesn't speak. Then his eyes squint and he smirks. "You don't have it in you…" he keeps walking at me.

"You don't think so?" I cock the hammer back on the gun and gently and visibly squeeze the trigger. Little does he know, this thing isn't loaded. He's standing a good fifteen feet from me now.

His eyes go wide and extends his hands out to the side slightly. "Alright Laiss. What are your three conditions?"

"First, you leave my family alone and don't hurt them." He shakes his head yes. "Second, you can't hurt me like you did before or anyone else." I say pointing to my chest, which is still red and slightly bleeding.

"I can't uh _guarantee_ I won't hurt anyone else….I didn't plan on hurting you again…I promise I won't hurt you…" he puts his hand over his heart.

"Alright, I'll take that. And third…" And I smile and my legs tense up. He puts his eyebrows up and turns his head to the side as if to say yeah what is it. "YOU GOTTA CATCH ME FIRST!!" I squeal out spinning around and running towards the backdoor. I can hear him crashing behind me and yelling for his men to go out the front. I can't help but giggle as I'm running. I throw the gun into the darkness of the good living room as I'm running. Coming to the backdoor I burst out of it giggling wildly, running for the back of the property. The cooler dusk air feels good from the heat of the day, and the fireflies are starting to sparkle the lawn. The sky is a dim blue color, and the very first stars are appearing in the sky. _So romantic_. I turn over my shoulder to look as I run by the pool, and he's about twenty feet behind me booking full speed at me. I start giggling louder, and run faster. _There ain't no way this sucker is gonna catch me!! _Coming to the property line I duck and weave through the pine trees, and grab the chain link fence and scramble up it like a cat. I'm over it and I jump to the ground and turn around and he's just getting into the trees. I stand there for a minute laughing at him.

"You think this is funny do you!" He says coming up the fence. _Whoa…he can climb better than I thought!! _I don't stick around to wait, I start running to the left so I can get to the road where Batman is waiting for me. From the road I can hear the vans screeching out of my grandmothers driveway, and I hear the 18 wheeler start up and go. _Yes!! _I can hear the Joker running behind me and I look over towards my right and notice all the neighbors in their yards just gawking at the scene. _Oh this must look hilarious! _I turn over my shoulder and realize he's closer than he should be._ Holy fuck this guy can run! And I'm almost outta breath here, damn asthma! _I speed up a little, but it doesn't help. _He's wayyyy too close! I'm never gonna make it! _I come up on the road finally and there's my saving grace. Batman sitting in the tumbler with the top wide open so I can just dive in.

"Oh you little SHIT!!" I hear the Joker snarl from behind me and I can tell he's out of breath.

"WOOOHOOOHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!" I let out a Joker like laugh and take a leap into the air towards the tumbler. To my surprise and everyone else who sees it, I actually fly through the air and land in the tumbler.

"GO GO GOOO!!" I scream as I squeeze into the seat beside batman. Above me I can hear and see the tumbler closing in and he speeds off leaving the Joker running at us. My heart is pounding and I'm sucking for breath. "That…was….close…." I breath out looking at Batman.

"I thought you said you were a kickboxer and could run circles around him?" He says smirking.

"I am…but I've been slacking…on my training lately and…haven't been doing my daily endurance runs. Plus…I have….asthma…..and Joker can….move a lot faster…than I thought." I pant out.

"I told you he was fast." He says as we are driving down the road.

"Well now what?" my breathing and heartbeat are almost back to normal.

"Well you can't go home, and you can't go back to your grandmothers…." He pauses as he's looking into his monitors. "And we have company." He says as he starts pushing buttons.

"Oh that figures…" I lay my head back and groan.

"We have to get you to where you're going to be safe. You're going to have to come stay with me. At least for now until we can seal the portals…and find out more information." he says bobbing and weaving away from the gunshots being fired at us.

I look at him and he glances at me. "You have GOT to be kidding me…" he shakes his head no. _So that's why he had me give him all my essentials to put in the back of this thing._ "But I was told I only have six months time limit in another universe and then both of them collapse in on each other…." My head starts buzzing with those strange disembodied voices again. This time they are clearer.

"_Laiss…Laiss….run…keep going…we're safe…we need to talk to you still….there is much you need to know…"_

"Grandma?" I whisper out sitting up.

"What's wrong?" Batman says as he looks at me.

"I just…I just heard my grandmother…in my head…" I say trying to focus on the rest of what she is saying.

"Telepathic abilities are common in string walkers….even in our world."

"You have string walkers in your world too?!" I chirp out.

"Of course we do. Our universe is just as real as yours."

"_Laiss…there is more you need to know about the Joker…he….you…and….don't..." _

The voices fade from my mind and I loose it. I sit back and close my eyes. "I need to talk to my grandmother." I reach in my back pocket and pick up my cell phone and batman grabs it out of my hand. "Hey! What are you doing?!" I shriek as he puts it down by his left side.

"The Joker is tracking your cell number. I don't want him knowing our exact location. We have to get back to the portal before it closes on us. Its on the lower portion of the parking lot at a place called Sherrill Brooke park where its out of sight."

"How did you….come through that portal? I mean how did you know where the Joker was? How did you find me?" I'm shaking my head. This is all so confusing.

"When you came through the first time, all sorts of strange events began happening. The portal mirror I have in my mansion activated. Portals began popping up in our world. I knew something had happened. And I knew the Joker was behind it. He's been acting rather strange lately. I was almost on to the Joker's hide out when you came through. The energy disturbance coming from wherever his hide out is was enormous."

"Energy disturbance? How did you pick that up? And I thought there was only one portal mirror?"

"Easy. All string walkers send out enormous amounts of energy. You just need to find that exact energy type and track it. Much like a Geiger counter for detecting radiation. I tracked you down with this." He holds out a small device that looks like a tazer gun. " And there are many more portals than just yours in our world, and they don't have to be a mirror. The strongest portals are ones that are constructed by string walkers that's why your mirror and the Joker's mirror are so powerfully connected. See, you're energy level is obviously higher since you are a golden string walker and…" that raspy voice of his is so hard to understand.

"How the hell did you know that?" I blurt out cutting him off.

"Like I said before, there are string walkers in my world just as there are in yours, and those string walkers know of other string walkers in other universes. Your birth was recorded and is well known by all string walkers in all universes. I happen to know many string walkers, and that's how I knew about you. The Joker broke into the main archives in our world and stole your information. It didn't give exact location of where you were however. When I found out he had stole that information years ago, I began watching his activity very closely."

"Years ago? How old is he?" My eyebrows come together. _He better not be old enough to be my daddy._

"He is thirty two years old. His identity is known in our world, as is his age. His name is Jack Napier. His mother was killed by his father when he was ten years old, and his father scared his face the way you see it. His father is now dead because when the Joker turned fifteen, he killed his father by jamming a pencil through his eye into his brain. He has been on the streets committing crimes ever since and has since been know as the Joker. He stole your information shortly after he killed his father, right around the time of your birth. He has been watching and waiting since then. No one knows exactly what motivated the Joker to steal your information. We do know that he knows of your strength and abilities. He will most likely want to use them to his advantage and turn you into his personal weapon."

"But…I have a mind of my own you know. He can't just make me hurt people or do his bidding."

"Oh yes he can. I don't think you were fully informed of what exactly is going on. Did you grandmother tell you that he is possibly your mo anam cara?"

My eyes shoot open. "What!?"

"According to the council in my world, a golden string walkers mo anam cara always comes from another universe. Once you find your other half, a series of events start to occur. Apparently, two universes are suppose to collapse on one another to conserve and recycle energy. But for that to happen…" he shifts in his seat and clears his throat. "Well…" He's uncomfortable I can tell.

"Well what?" I say looking at him.

"Well…you only have six months in our world…and in that same amount of time…you and your mo anam cara….have to well…" he sighs.

"What? We have to get married or something?!" I'm getting frustrated now.

"Well…I would hope that's a part of it…but you have to…mate…but not just any mating. You have to be in love…and make love…to combine the two universes…" When he says the word 'mate' and 'make love' he kind of trails the word off so I can barely hear it.

"_What!!_" I shriek out causing him to jump.

"I didn't make that rule…according to our string walkers that's the way it works. If you don't, both worlds will be ripped apart. Since you've already set it in motion, it has to be done within six months from yesterday." he says as he's checking his monitors.

"Oh this is just perfect…" I lay my head back and then a thought hits me. "Wait…you said they _think_ he is my mo anam cara. What if….he's not my mo anam cara…and you are? Or someone else from your universe? I mean when I wished him here didn't you come through too?" I say sitting up.

"Technically yes. I was sitting in the bat cave and the mirror lit up and I was pulled through into your world. I was able to get back through the portal safely. That's when I came back and immediately started tracking your energy level. I almost had the Joker's location and was almost there when the energy simply disappeared."

"Will the council know who my mo anam cara is?" I say hopefully.

"I'm not sure if they will or not. We can hope that they do." He says shaking his head.

"Well isn't this a fine state of affairs…" I scoff as I pull my brush out of my pocket and start brushing my hair. I stuff the brush back in my pocket and notice he's staring at me.

"What?" I say looking at him.

"Nothing…just your hair is…very pretty" I can see his face get red.

Now my face turns a shade of red. _Did…batman just hit on me or am I imagining things? _"Thank you…" I say quietly sinking back into my seat.

"Well…I suppose I don't need to wear this right now since you already know who I am." I see him reach up and start removing his mask. He pulls it off and sets it in the middle and fixes his ruffled hair. He is kind of cute under there. Kind of. Nothing like the Joker of course. But still a really handsome guy. "Were here." He says as we pull into the park. "Now, the Joker and his men will be behind us when we drive through there. He won't realize he's driving through a portal because its going through the tunnel so he will just think he's still chasing us. We should end up on the out skirts of Gotham, in the far woods…."

I can see in the monitor a glowing circle and when I peek out of the small window I can see the tunnel. In the tunnel it almost looks as if it's a pool of water that's slightly rippling. Its barely visible, and I assume that's the portal. My heart starts thumping as we come up on it and go through it. I've never been to Gotham. I've never been to another world before. Only when the Joker knocked me through his portal mirror when him and I first met. As we are driving in the darkness of the tunnel, I see a slight blue flash from outside and then all at once we are driving in a forest.

"Here we are…" Batman says as he starts speeding up. "Now they should be right behind us. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible, so hold on to something."

His driving is killing me here. Weaving this way and that way. It seems to be night time here in Gotham. Well then that tells me my world and this one run on the same times. We come to a road and he takes a sharp left causing me to gasp loudly as I slide over in the seat and end up leaning against him. I quickly scoot back over when I realize what happened and I can feel my face getting red. As we drive along, I start seeing more and more houses. And then I see it. We come over a large hill and there it is. Spread out before me like a million sparkling multicolored jewels. The city of Gotham in all its glory, light up like a giant Christmas tree. I've never seen a city so big in all my life. He reaches down and presses a few buttons and I hear what sounds like a phone ringing.

"Wayne residence, how may I help you?" The old familiar accented voice of Alfred the butler is coming through the speakers.

"Alfred, please make up the guest room in the north wing next to my room. We have a very special guest coming to stay for a while…" Batman's raspy voice is now back to Bruce Wayne's silky voice.

"Very good sir. Will you be requiring dinner when you and your guest arrive?"

Bruce glances at me and smiles. "Yes Alfred, I believe we will." I can feel my face getting red and my stomach just got a case of massive butterflies as we are looking at each other.

_Oh, this is going to be interesting. Very interesting indeed._


	6. Introduce a little anarchy

_**Phoenix: **_I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving :) Well I finally got it done! Sorry this took so long guys :(

* * *

Instead of batman going straight through the town, he takes a road just before we go into the main part of town. I assume that this is the path that will be less noticeable to the people that might be on the main roads, and will get us to where ever we are going….hey wait a minute…where are we going?

"Where are we headed?" I ask looking out the windows at the night sky.

"To Wayne Manor. You'll be safe there. And it looks as if the Joker has finally realized we are back in our world and has left us to go regroup. That means our dinner won't be interrupted…" he trails off and glances at me. I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was thinking really dirty thoughts about me.

I shift in my seat and grumble a little and he looks at me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine I'm just all icky from running like that." I say pulling my shirt off my body and letting it fall back.

"If you'd like, you can take a shower before dinner. We're almost there now and Alfred probably won't have our meal ready for a few minutes at least."

"Sounds good to me…" I trail off laying my head back and close my eyes. _Oh God, I can't wait to get a good nights sleep._

We come around a corner and then I see it. Stretched out before me on the biggest stretch of land you'd ever see, is a mansion set back away from the road. It look so small because its set so far away. The whole front of the property is surrounded by chain link fence with barb wire on the top. We pull up the giant cast iron gates with a giant **W **in the middle. A small red beam comes from one of the stone pillars that are attached to the gates, and I believe its scanning the vehicle. I hear a female computer voice coming from the speakers in the tumbler.

"Welcome home, Master Wayne." The gates slowly swing open and we drive through.

We drive up the driveway to the mansion and it's the biggest damn house I've ever seen in my entire life. Its not a mansion, this thing is a damn castle. It's the most romantic looking place I've ever seen. It has fountains and gazebos everywhere, and a small river running thru the right side with a small stone bridge over it. And if I'm correct, there are even a few angels perched on the roof, or they could be gargoyles, I can't be sure in the darkness. Just when I think we are going to park this thing in the lawn somewhere, he drives to the left and goes around the building and a small part of the rolling fields of grass slides down into the ground and we drive down it. I jump a bit because I've never driven into the ground. We drive down a metallic ramp, and then I assume what I see before me is the famous bat cave. There are computers everywhere, the giant portal mirror, instruments, weapons, and other things I couldn't even explain if I tried.

"Wow…" I can't help it.

"What?" He's smirking.

"Just…never thought I'd be seeing the bat cave…" I'm still soaking in the sights.

"You know once you've seen it, you can never leave…" I look over at him startled and he gives me a wink and smirk. There goes the butterflies in my stomach again, and I feel my face get red and I look away. _He did it again!_

We come to a stop right on a platform and then the tumbler starts opening, and I don't even hesitate I jump out and stand by the side of the tumbler and just take everything in. Its very cold in here, and I can hear water rushing somewhere. There is a slight breeze rolling through carrying the smell of the water.

"Laiss?" His voice in my ear makes me jump away and shriek.

He smiles at me and puts his hands up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…"

"Sorry, its not your fault. I'm just…a little jumpy.." I trail off. "Well, I suppose I ought to get my stuff…." I stick my head back into the tumbler to grab my things in the back when he lightly taps me on the back. I move my head back out and look at him. "Yes?"

"I'll get them for you and bring them to your room while you take a shower.."

I give him my all famous defiant look. "I can carry my own things you know." I cross my arms.

He smiles at me. "I know you can. But I'd like to take care of you while you're here."

I can't even speak or argue. _Take…care of me? No one's ever taken care of me…_I can feel the tears about to start and I have no idea why. I clear my throat. "Alright…"

"Good evening Sir." I hear a voice from behind us and I jump and shriek. I look and its just Alfred, standing there quite startled at my reaction. "Forgive me miss, I didn't mean to startle you." And now he's looking me up and down and taking me in as I'm doing the same. He seems to be in his 60's or so, with snow white hair and steel blue eyes and glasses. He's wearing his traditional butler uniform.

"Oh, its not your fault I'm just a bit jumpy…." I say looking at him and smiling.

"So I see…" He says smiling at me.

"Alfred, this is Laiss. She'll be staying with us for a while. She's the golden string walker the one that the Joker is after." Bruce says to him walking over to him.

"Ah I see. Now I see why she's so jumpy." Alfred says and I giggle at that.

"Alfred would you be so kind as to show Laiss to the North wing shower and guest room where she will be staying?" Bruce says walking over and leaning into the tumbler getting my things.

"Very well Sir." Alfred looks at me and motions with his hand. "Shall we?"

I nod my head and start walking. I don't see the looks exchanged behind me from Alfred to Bruce. That look of this is a rare and special one Master Wayne, don't screw it up.

Bruce sighs as he watches us walk out. He reaches in and picks up my things and starts walking out with them and then he stops as if he hears something. He turns and looks at the way we drove in and realizes the door near the entrance hole is swinging in the breeze. Walking over to inspect the area, he notices nothing out of the ordinary so he shuts the doors and locks everything down and then walks up the ramp Alfred and I had gone up just a few moments ago.

I feel like a kid in a great big playhouse as Alfred is walking me down the hallways and up stairs. Its like a giant castle from Europe, with candles on the walls and great big tapestries. There is fine furniture at every turn, and various vases. All of which I'm very sure are rare and expensive if not priceless items. As we come around a corner, I can see a giant semi-circle of doors.

"Here we are miss. This is the North Wing, where you will be staying for the duration you are visiting. Master Wayne's bed chamber is directly to your right here," Alfred points at a double door and then walks over to his left and opens it. "And this is your room. I do hope it contains everything you will need. If there is anything you require," he clicks on the light and my jaw drops. "You have but to ask." He turns and smiles at me as I'm taking in the room. I've never seen such a grand room in all my life. Not even that time my parents stayed at that fancy five hundred dollar a night room when we went to Florida. It has a fireplace and a giant bed with more pillows and blankets than you could ever imagine, all in my favorite colors; white pearl and royal purple. There is a cherry wood chair set and matching table, two end tables of the same wood on each side of the bed and on those tables are two crystal lamps. There is a giant walk in closet with more clothes than a department store. The floor is all hardwood except under the bed and a few feet around it sits a giant Oriental rug which I'm quite certain actually comes from Asia. The source of light is coming from a grand crystal chandelier on the white ceiling. The walls are white as well, and around the corners there is deep cherry wood designed trim.

"Miss?" Alfred's voice breaks me out of my stupor and I look at him. "The shower is directly through that door." He motions to another door that connects to the room. "Is there anything you require?"

"Uh…as long as there's some soap and shampoo and stuff in there I think I can manage…and towels." I'm stuttering.

"Of course miss. All of the toiletries you will need are in there. If you need anything there is an intercom right there by the bed." Alfred is smiling at me as he leaves and closes the door.

"Well….if the bedroom is this nice I wonder what that bathroom looks like…" I whisper to myself as I make my way to the bathroom door. I open it and reach around until I find a light switch. "Oh…my….GOD…" My eyes light up as the room does and I almost faint. There is a Jacuzzi in here! It's a shower with giant glass doors but the tub part is an actual Jacuzzi. There are shelves inside of the shower with all sorts of bottles. Off the back end of the outside of the tub there are various bars of soap, perfume, oils, powder bottles and other various toiletries. I don't even bother to shut the door to the bathroom as I start ripping my clothes off letting them fly to the floor. I reach over to the light switches and play around with the different ones until I finally just have the soft lights on over the sink. I look over and I see another door and I gently open it and it's the closet for the bathroom with piles and piles of folded fresh towels. I reach in and grab one and set it outside of the shower. I giggle as I jump in the tub and start filling it up. I look up on the shelves in the shower and find a really nice bottle of rose bubble bath and I squirt out probably more than was needed but who cares! I also find a white poof in here, how lucky am I? I sink myself down into the water while the tub is still running and let out a loud sigh of relief. As soon as the tub is full I reach over and shut off the water and then crank on the Jacuzzi and lay back. _Just a few minutes. Then I'll wash my hair and rinse and get out. _As I'm washing with the poof and leaned way back in the tub so that my head is under the water, I look up and see Bruce Wayne standing over the tub looking down at me. I jump up shrieking and cover myself up and look up at him. _It's a good thing the tub is so thick with bubbles!_

"Sorry….I didn't mean to um…startle you. I just wanted to let you know I put your bags on the bed and that dinner is almost ready..." he says trying to talk over the noise of the Jacuzzi and trying to hide the fact he's staring at me. I notice he's still in his bat suit.

"Thank you….I'll be right out." I say crunching down farther looking up at him with my big green eyes.

"I'm uh…just going to go take a shower and…then…um….yeah…I'll see you at dinner…" he says as he's backing away. He walks out of the bathroom and shuts the door and lets out a huge rush of air. "Better make it a cold shower…" he says under his breath smirking as he walks away.

"Oh my GOD…." I breath out as I sink all the way under the water then pop back out and shut the Jacuzzi off. I can tell my face is red and not from the hot water in here either. I reach over with my toe and click the drain down so that the water will empty and then stand up and shut the doors. I sit and finish washing myself, and when I'm done the last of the water is swirling down the drain. I stand back up and start the shower and wash my hair and then condition it. I stand in the hot water and rinse myself for what seems like an eternity. Its nice to feel safe. Its nice not to have to be running from the Joker. My face drops. The Joker. I had gone a while thirty minutes without thinking of him. I shake my head and try to push the memories of his hands on my body away. I finish rinsing myself, and then I get out of the shower and grab the towel I had set out. I dry myself off and then ruffle the towel through my hair. I wrap the towel around myself and then peek out the bathroom door. I can see my bags sitting on the bed and I reach in and grab my powder and deodorant. I put that on and then I realize I have no nice clothes. I mean I have nice clothes, but no black tie type clothes. I start combing my wet hair and then I spot the closet. _I'm sure Bruce Wayne the multi-billionaire has a few nice dresses even if they were left by some of the ladies he was um courting._ I giggle as I think that last part. I walk over to the closet totally naked and walk into it and click the light on and then smile a grand Cheshire cat smile.

"Well this is going to be fun…" I breath out as I start looking through the clothing.

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"Did you tell Miss Wyatt that dinner was almost ready?" Alfred says as he's walking by Bruce sitting at the head of the table. Bruce is now freshly showered and dressed in just a white button down shirt and a pair of black dress pants.

"Yes Alfred. She should be down in a few minutes." He says as he's tapping his fingers on the table, obviously distraught.

"If you don't mind me asking Sir, how old is Miss Wyatt?"

"Seventeen…" Bruce says the words and smiles softly, and immediately goes off in thought.

"Ah I see." Alfred says studying Bruce's face.

"Why do you ask.." he says obviously day dreaming.

"Well Sir to be quite honest, I'm asking because of what happened with Christy."

Bruce's face immediately becomes solemn. "That….was different Alfred. I was young, she was even younger…I wouldn't let that happen again…" Bruce is whispering, trying to hold tears back.

Alfred steps closer to Bruce and drops his voice to a near whisper. "I know. I'm just trying to say; be careful sir. She's young. She is _very_ young. She is in a state of shock most likely and is obviously very vulnerable right now. Would be very easy for a girl like her to fall in love with a man like you and have her heart broken. And there is also the chance that…." Alfred stops and takes in a deep breath when he sees me all the way across the room. "…she could break….yours." He clears his throat causing Bruce to look up at me. The look on his face is priceless. "Well, I will go get dinner now that our guest of honor is here." Alfred says loud enough for me to hear him and then leaves the room.

"You look….fantastic." Bruce says as he gets up and walks over to me.

"I hope you don't mind. I have no fancy clothes and I found this in the closet…" I whisper as he's standing directly in front of me gawking. _Ok, so maybe the slinky, thigh length, spaghetti strap, half see through white party dress with the sparkles…and being barefoot with my damp hair cascading down my back…probably wasn't the best idea since he's looking at me like that. _I can feel my face getting red.

"Oh no…I don't mind at all…." Bruce stands there for a minute just staring at me, and then snaps back into reality and gestures over to the table. I slowly walk over and he pulls out a chair right near his and I sit down as he pushes it in. _I wish he'd quit spoiling me, I'm going to get use to it._ My heart twinges and I shake the thoughts away as he walks over and sits down.

Before the silence gets awkward, Alfred comes out with a large tray and sets it down near us. I look up at Bruce as he's serving us. The look he's giving me is the strangest look I've ever seen. It's a mix of sadness, longing and if I didn't know any better-love?

"Are you alright?" I wave my hand around to catch his attention.

He blinks a few times and snaps out of it. "Yes….yes I'm fine I'm just hungry…and tired."

"Me too I'm starving." I say looking down at what Alfred has uncovered in front of me. To my delight, it's a soup. By my guess a very hearty vegetable soup, and a lot of it too.

"Will there be anything else sir?" Alfred says trying not to look at me.

"No Alfred, that's all for now."

I look down and this is when I notice there are about 15 different spoons and forks. _Oh good grief you'd think I'd know which one to use. I hope its this big round one….yeah it has to be._ I pick the round spoon on the outside up and start eating. I notice Bruce isn't eating but staring off into space.

"I thought you said you were hungry…" I say to him smiling.

He looks up at me and sighs. "I am. But I'm worried…tomorrow is when I need to take you to see the council." He says picking up his spoon and starting to eat.

"Why should that worry you? Won't seeing them help everything and answer some questions?"

"Well…yes. I'm pretty sure they already know who your mo anam cara is…." He trails off, obviously distraught.

"Well that should be interesting…." I say half way under my breath.

"Laiss…I need to ask you something….before we find out…" He says looking at me with that same sad look.

I stop eating and look up at him. "Go ahead…" Oh boy this should be interesting.

"Well its actually a few questions…" he looks at me and I nod as if to say sure go ahead. "I know this may be sort of a personal question but I need to know. Do you…" he stops and shifts in his seat, and I can tell he's uncomfortable. "love him?"

I immediately stop eating and put my spoon down. "You mean…the Joker?" Bruce nods. I sigh and close my eyes. "I can't lie to you…" I open my eyes and look right into his soft brown eyes which I notice are wobbling. "Yes…I love him. With all my stupid little naïve heart. I know I don't know him personally, and I know he's a maniac. But I'm so drawn to him and I have no idea why." As I'm talking his face is becoming increasingly sad. "Who knows….maybe its just infatuation. But I really don't think it is. I mean when he touched me…" I close my eyes and don't even realize a very small smile creeps out across my lips "and when he kissed me…" I'm immediately cut off by Bruce's rough almost batman like voice.

"He _kissed _you?!" My eyes shoot open and I can see the anger on his face. I nod my head slowly. "He actually….I mean you two actually…what kind of kiss are we talking about? I mean did you fight him off?"

I smirk being my smart ass self and say, "You want all the dirty details?"

"That isn't very funny Laiss. What kind of kiss was it? I mean were there….tongues or…what?" He leans closer to me.

"Well…uh….there was some…tongue yes…" I stop as I'm remembering the kiss and I shudder.

"And?" Bruce's voice is louder now.

"And what?"

"Did you fight him off? How did he get that close to you? Where did this happen? I mean….did you kiss him back or what?" he's getting visibly upset now.

I put my hand over my face and I can feel my face getting really red. "When he first came through the portal and then chased me and knocked me through the portal to his world into his bed room….at least I assume its his bed room. He was walking towards me and I threatened to scream and he grabbed me and put the knife to my face you know how he does that…and him and chit chatted for a minute while he had me like that….and then he was threatening to you know…deflower me…" Again I'm cut off by Bruce's harsh voice.

"Deflower you!" I look up at him and his eyes soften, and I see a hint of something in there that I can't even place. "I…didn't know you were…a virgin.." his voice is so soft now, and I can tell he's thinking. "Please…continue."

"Yeah neither did he….and when he found out he became extremely gentle but very…um…passionate for lack of a better term. And so I was begging for my innocence at knife point when I managed to kick him in his balls and get away for a moment…then he got a hold of me again and gave me this nice gash…" I say pointing to it and I see violence flash in Bruce's eyes. "Then one of his goons banged on the door to let him know batman was on the way and would discover us since they knew you were tracking my energy signature. And then he took a joker card and stuck it down my shirt and when he was pulling his hands back out…he um…well he brushed the back of his fingers across my um…" I can't even finish I'm so embarrassed.

"Nipple?" Bruce cocks an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah…and then I don't even know what happened next. I made a noise when he did that and it obviously….turned him on or something. He then softly put his lips to mine and kissed me…then I don't know what happened…It got all hot and heavy and I ended up sprawled out under him pressed against the wall with him standing between my legs and we were…well we were kissing very passionately and then he let me go and threw me back through the mirror and said I was his and he would come back for me." I finished and let out a big sigh.

"Well that sounds very romantic." Bruce says very sarcastically scoffing as he pushes his empty bowl away.

"It wasn't exactly…romantic. It was more…frightening." I say looking up at him and can tell he's not convinced. "I was horrified. I was in shock…I didn't know what was going on….I didn't know what else to do…" I say pushing my empty bowl away.

"So was he good?" The sarcasm is going to kill me. This one was tinged with jealousy.

"Hey you asked for the details." I say quietly.

"So was he good? Do you even have a basis for comparison?" Bruce says obviously very upset.

"No…I don't have a basis for comparison. I…that was…well it was my first kiss." I say matter of fact and trying not to burst into tears.

We both stop talking when Alfred walks into the room. "Are we ready for second course?"

"Yes Alfred…I believe we are." Bruce says flipping his napkin around, obviously very jealous and angered over the fact that the Joker and I shared quite the ardent encounter.

"Very well sir." Alfred says as he's clearing our plates. As soon as he leaves, Bruce starts again.

"You never answered me. Was he good?" He says cocking an eye brow at me.

"Since it was my first kiss I have to say yes….he was _fantastic_." I say cocking an eyebrow back and crossing my arms and sitting back.

The hurt look on his face is almost more than I can bear. I didn't mean to hurt him. But he's attacking me over something that happened with the Joker before he ever even came along, and its not like I'm his girlfriend or something. _That's a joke right there if I ever heard one. He can have any woman he wants, what would he ever want with someone like me. _I can feel my eyes welling up with tears. Alfred walks back in with another tray and serves us. If I wasn't so emotionally unstable, the food in front of me would have been to die for. It was prime rib, with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I don't even wait for Bruce I just start eating. Hey I'm a hypoglycemic and I need to eat….and besides…I haven't had decent food in a while now. Bruce seems to have the same sentiment and just starts eating.

"I'm sorry." Bruce's voice is soft now.

I look up at him and smile. "It's alright…"

After a while goes by and I'm done eating, he breaks the silence with a very strange question. "What will you do if your mo anam cara is me?"

I inhale a lung full of water that I was drinking and start choking. Bruce jumps up and Alfred comes running.

"My goodness! Miss are you alright!" Alfred says as he puts his hand on my back.

"I'm….ok….just….went down the wrong….pipe…" I choke out with my eyes watering. I glare up at Bruce and he's actually smiling at me.

"Well…that answers that question…" he says giving me a wide grin.

"I'm…going to go…brush my teeth and…yeah…" I say getting up and tripping away from the table.

"Are you sure you're alright miss?" Alfred calls after me as I'm walking fast away from the table.

"Oh yeah I'm peachy…" I say as I start running up all the way to my room.

"What was that all about sir?" Alfred says clearing the table off.

"Nothing Alfred. She's just a little…jumpy still." Bruce says as he smirks and walks out. Alfred shakes his head as he walks out of the room.

I'm standing there brushing my teeth looking at myself in the mirror. _Oh my God I can't believe he just asked me that. I'll shoot myself in the head if he is. Good grief what kind of question is that at the dinner table. I mean really. _I rinse my mouth out and my face off and set my toothbrush on the sink. I walk out into my bedroom and flop on the bed and start brushing my hair out now that its dry.

"Well…I'm bored…" I breath out loudly tossing the brush aside.

"Care to join me for a drink?" Bruce's voice is coming from the doorway of my room. _Damn I forgot to shut that thing._ I sit up straight and look at him.

"I can't drink alcohol. I'm not twenty one yet." I give him an off look.

He shrugs. "Maybe in your world you can't drink. But here in this one there is no legal drinking age. And besides, I know how to mix a pretty good Shirley Temple if you'd prefer that." He says smiling at me. I smile back and scurry off the bed and he leads me down the hall to his room.

"Oh you're not serious…" I say stopping as I realize he's taking me into his bedroom.

He turns and looks at me and gives me that all famous look he has. "Scared?"

I puff up a little and tip my head up at him. "Not at all."

He gets this huge grin and opens the door to his room. Its not a bedroom. It's a cathedral. There is a huge fireplace, a giant bed, tapestries, and I can see a bar in the far corner of the room. I smirk. _Oh and look at that, the fire is going already. How romantic. _We walk over to the bar and I hop on a stool as he walks behind it.

He walks over and leans across the bar at me and smiles. "So what'll you have miss?"

"Jack and Coke…" I trail off looking into his eyes and leaning towards him.

He raises his eyebrows. "Jack and Coke it is…" He reaches around and makes the drink and hands it to me and then mixes it himself. Now I've never had alcohol before but my father always has a bottle of Jack in the house, and I figure hey why not.

I take a sip out of it and wince. Bruce notices this and smirks. "A bit strong is it?" I shake my head no as he walks around the bar and makes a motion to the couch that's sitting in front of the fire place. I hop down and walk over to it and sit down and I try to cross my legs but then I realize how short this dress is and quickly put my legs down. I can feel the heat from the fire and it feels really good against my bare skin. Bruce sits down a few feet from me and looks over at me.

"Can I ask you something?" I say to him. He nods as he's looking at me. "Why are you being so….nice to me? I mean why…invite me into your room for a drink? I'm not complaining or anything. I'm just….curious." I say sipping my drink. That's when I feel it. The alcohol is starting to take effect on me.

"Well I figured you were bored…and I'm bored….I figured we could be bored together. I didn't plan on keeping you locked up in your room the entire time you were here and never seeing you. If you haven't noticed, I don't have very many close personal friends or people to talk to. I'd like to get to know you a little better, and apologize for my behavior earlier. Its just the Joker is a dangerous man and I'd hate to see such a sweet young girl get involved with him and end up getting hurt."

I keep sipping my drink and I'm starting to feel really warm and a bit dizzy. "You're not trying to….get me drunk and then…" I say smirking at him.

He smiles a genuine smile and leans over. "No Ma'am. I'm simply enjoying your company." Then he gets a wicked grin. "Unless of course you want me to get you drink and then…" I can't help but bust out laughing. "I didn't think so."

We sit there chatting for what seems like an eternity about our families, our likes and dislikes, and its like I'm sitting here chatting with Sadie. After my second very strong Jack and Coke, I decide that's it for me.

"Well, Mister Wayne, I do believe I am drunk. What time is it anyways?" I slur as I look around for a clock.

Bruce looks over his shoulder at the clock near his bed. "It is…11:02."

"Oh my!" I start giggling. My eyes get wide and I look at him. "Its past my bed time!" saying this throws me into a fit of giggles. He smirks at my silliness, and then stands up and walks to the bar. "No more for me thanks….I'm driving!" I say really quiet then start giggling again. Just then, Alfred comes running in. He doesn't even see me on the couch and be being a drunk fool, I yell out scaring him half to death. "ALFRED!!!!" Alfred looks over at me and I raise my glass to him and smile. "Cheers!" I start sipping the last few drops of it down.

Alfred turns his gaze to Bruce and puts his hands on his hips. "Master Wayne…is she….drunk?"

"Oh yeah….and how!" I giggle out. Alfred shakes his head as Bruce just smirks.

"Sir I really hate to disturb you but there is a hostage situation down at the orphanage." Alfred is whispering so I don't hear him.

"Alright I'll take care of it." Bruce says walking around the bar towards me.

"Take care of what?" I say sitting up. I know something is wrong.

Bruce smiles at me. "Just a client having a problem that I need to take care of right away. Nothing to worry about. Come on lets get you to bed."

"Yeah I suppose it is bed time…I could use a decent nights rest." I say half yawning and standing up. When I stand up I wobble a bit and put my hands on my head. Bruce reaches over and puts his arm out as if he's going to catch me.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm fine I just…I'm a bit dizzy. I think its just the alcohol." My head is buzzing with…voices.

I start walking for the door and I salute Alfred as I walk out and he rolls his eyes at me and half smiles and I giggle as I walk out. Bruce walks out after me and looks at Alfred and just shrugs and Alfred is shaking his head at Bruce.

I start skipping towards my room and stop just before I get to the door, and end up slipping and falling right on my rear end. Bruce comes running over from behind me asking me if I'm alright and by this time I'm in a fit of giggles at my clumsiness. He reaches down and I take his hand and start standing up.

"Oh boy that was graceful wasn't it!" I say giggling as he pulls me up. To my surprise he doesn't let my hand go, but pulls me into him and wraps his left arm around my waist. I instinctively put my hands on his chest to gain leverage. "W-what are you…" I say looking up into his eyes. My knees start wobbling because I'm so close to him.

"Shhhh…" he whispers looking into my eyes. I almost jump out of my skin at the feel of his hand against my cheek. He's softly running the backs of his fingers down my cheek. I can't even speak. _What the fuck is he doing?_

"Bruce I…" I peep out.

"Shhhhh…." He whispers even softer as he leans down towards me.

I lean back into his arm but I don't get very far. Before I know what's going on his lips touch mine. My toes curl up and this dull electrical shock goes through my body and I start to shake very softly. I go partially limp as he's kissing me, and I'm kissing him back. _Oh fuck me now I'm making out with Batman..._ When I open my mouth to protest, he swiftly reaches his other hand around my waist and pulls me tighter to him, deepening the kiss. I make a muffled mmmffff sound and now I'm shaking violently at the feel of his soft tongue in my mouth. I have no choice but to respond. I don't even notice that he's backed me up into the wall and pressed me into it. As we are standing there playing tonsil hockey, we hear someone clearing their throat behind us. We both jump and break the kiss and look behind us. Its Alfred standing there looking at us. I can feel my face getting so red. Neither one of us can move.

"Sir…" Alfred says as he bows slightly and walks down the stairs. The look he gave him says it all.

"Well….um….thank you for dinner and drinks….I should go to bed now and you have to get going and…" Bruce puts his finger over my lips.

"Yes I have to go….but I will be back soon." He cocks an eyebrow at me and I see an image flash in my head of him crawling in bed with me in the middle of the night. I furrow my brow as he takes his finger from my lips. _Now where did that vision come from?_

"But I…um…" I can't even finish because of the look on his face.

"Well Laiss…" he whispers as he reaches up and gently strokes my cheek again. "Now you have a basis for comparison…" He smirks as he lets me go and walks away.

I stand there for a minute just watching him walk away and down the stairs. As soon as he's out of sight I run into my room and shut the door, lock it and press my back into it. I'm breathing heavy and my heart is still pounding in my chest.

I close my eyes and set my head against the door. "Oh my God…" I heavily sigh out. I slide down the door very slowly until I hit the floor. I'm feeling a mixture of emotions right now. I feel aroused, confused, and yes-guilty. I feel like I just cheated on the Joker. The tears start to well up in my eyes. _Now how stupid is that…I'm not his…_My eyes shoot open as his words echo in my head.

'You're _MINE_….'

"I just….won't ever let him know…he…I won't tell…no one has to know…" I whisper out trying to calm myself.

I sit there for just a few more minutes trying to comfort myself and then make my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I'm standing there brushing, I happen to look over and out the window and I see it in the sky. The bat signal. _So that's why he had to leave. My virginity was saved by the bat signal._ I start laughing at that and almost choke on my toothpaste. I rinse my mouth out and my toothbrush and set it back on the sink. Right as I'm about to leave the bathroom I happen to look over at that Jacuzzi tub. I contemplate it for a minute, and then decide well why not. I run out and get a hair clip from my bag to clip my hair up so it doesn't get wet. I take my clothes off and hop in and start filling it and add some more of that rose bubble bath. When its all full I sit down and click on the Jacuzzi jets and just lay there.

"Well…this has been one hell of an interesting day…" I breath out as I sink down further to relax. "Let's just hope batman ain't all randy from crime fighting…" I smirk at that. Then quickly drop the smirk. Really it's not funny. _What if he does come back and…tries to…_I shake the thought off. _He wouldn't do that. He's batman. But would Bruce Wayne do that? Nooo…come on now Laiss…he wouldn't do that. He knows if he does not only will it possibly destroy your world and his but its just wrong. _

'You can't rape the willing now can you?' The Jokers voice echoing in my head again.

I roll my eyes and sigh out. "Oh shut up you…" Then it hits me. _Would I fight him off if he did try to…I mean…it's batman…or Bruce Wayne. Would it destroy everything? If I do that will the Joker leave me alone or will he not stop till he has me under any circumstances? What are his motives anyways? Why does he really want me? Does Bruce even really want me? What am I even doing here? How did this all happen? I mean why me?_ It must be the alcohol affecting me like this. I decide to rinse off and get out.

I wrap a towel around me and walk out of the bathroom and sit on the bed and start rummaging through my bag for a nightgown or some pajamas. I finally decide on a baby pink cotton nighty that is just above knee length and has straps like a tank top, which are considerably thicker than that ridiculously thin strapped dress I was wearing. I stand up and dry myself off with my towel and then throw it into the bathroom hamper and walk back out. Reaching for my powder and deodorant that I had just left sitting on the bed and put that on and then slip my nighty on. I figure I can set my stuff up tomorrow after we go see this council so I just set my bags and everything on the floor next to my bed. I reach across the bed and click on the lamp that's there and it casts a very soft dim glow around the room. Then I walk over and shut the big light off and turn around and smile. _This is going to be super comfy. I'm going to sleep like a rock. _I sigh a contented sigh and walk over to my bed and crawl in under the covers and pull them up around me under my feet. I let out a satisfied rush of air, and reach over and shut the light off. The room isn't dark at all because of the nightlights on all around and in the bathroom. Smiling, I close my eyes and within minutes I'm out. I didn't expect to fall asleep so fast, I figured I'd be up for hours from nerves.

All at once I wake up when I hear a strange noise in the room. My eyes shoot open and I realize its pitch black. The nightlights are off. Why would they be off? I slowly tilt my head up just a hair and see a human shape standing near the end of my bed. My heart immediately goes into my throat and starts pounding and I have to choke back a blood curdling scream. A million thoughts race through my head. _I'm having a nightmare. Its just my imagination. What if it's a monster. Or an alien. Or Bruce. Oh God what if it's the Joker._ The shape starts moving around the bed at me and jump up and start screaming as loud as I can running blindly around the room knocking into things and finally I crash myself right into a dresser at stomach height and knock the wind out of myself and go flying to the ground. As I'm laying there, the shape is coming at me and I think its talking to me but who knows I'm so scared and now I'm badly injured and can't make it out. I can see what I hope are arms and hands reaching for me and not tentacles or a claws and then I pass out from intense fear but mostly from pain.


	7. Its a funny world we live in

_**Phoenix:**_ I'm so sorry that these chapters are coming slow like this….tis the season you know and the holiday season has been just jammed packed to the point I've barely had time to breath….I promise to pick up the pace!

_**JOKER:**_ Oh Phoenix…

_**Phoenix:**_ Yeah?

_**JOKER:**_ (Squeezes Laiss's throat) Why was _**my**_ girl kissing **BATMAN!!!**

_**Laiss:**_ (slapping Joker away and hiding behind Phoenix) UGH I told you not to put that part in there Phoenix!!

_**Phoenix:**_ Well now the chapter was called introduce a little….anarchy….wasn't it??? Trust me…its all part of the plan ;)….or is it??? hehehehe…

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Chapter 7

It's cold. Extremely cold. And dark. I can't see. _Where am I?_ _This must be another dream. My head's so fuzzy. I was at Wayne Manor just a second ago….wait a minute…Wayne Manor? As in….Bruce Wayne as in Batman? Oh that's crazy. _I shift slightly up from where I am laying. I can feel I'm under covers and I'm wearing just a tank top and panties. I feel like I've been freshly showered and I can tell my teeth are freshly brushed.

Slowly from beside me, I hear shuffling feet. I can't even scream. I can feel the terror pricking up my spine. I know my eyes are open, but I can't see a thing. Slowly my eyes come into focus in the dim lighting. I can see two women, that are dressed in robes but they look like nurses and then guess who!

"Feeling any better?" The Joker's voice is damn near unbearable right now, and his piercing gaze is even worse. He reaches down and lights a small candle beside me, casting a soft glow across his face. I notice he's not wearing his traditional outfit, or his makeup. He's dressed in a pair of dark blue cotton bed pants and a white tank top. His hair is cascading seductively down his neck and I have an urge to run my fingers in it. I'm in that room from before, in that giant bed. I do believe this is the Joker's bedroom. My mind starts racing. _What the hell is going on?_

"She looks a slight bit better. She will need another dose." The one female with the blonde hair says as she comes over to me. This is when I realize I can't really move.

"Who the hell are you? What do you mean another dose? What the hell is going on here??" I say trying to push myself up.

"Now now, don't try and get up." The other female with jet black hair says to me as she comes to pet my head. As I'm looking at her, the blonde has snuck a needle up to me and gently pokes me with it in my left bicep. I inhale very sharply and whimper.

"Easy with her damn you!" The Joker snaps as he walks over to the blonde and slaps her out of the way and takes the needle and finishes giving me whatever was in that needle.

"What…was that?" I say looking up into his eyes.

He looks down at me and his eyes soften. "Some medicine…a sedative…a muscle relaxer...and a few other things." Handing the needle to the blonde, he reaches over and takes a small band-aid and gently puts it over where he injected me.

"But…why?" I whisper as the back of my throat starts to burn.

"Leave us." He says to the women. They quickly make their way out of the room.

"What…what's going on? What…are you going to do to….me…" I whisper out fluttering my eyes and then closing them. I'm not going to pass out, but I'm so tired and I can't barely move or talk. I feel the covers move up off me and then I feel him slide in next to me. I can feel the heat radiating off him and sinking deep into me and it makes me shiver.

"It's ok Laiss…" I feel his sweet hot breath tickling my lips and then I feel his soft lips touch mine and I whimper.

"No…please don't…" I say weakly putting my hand up on his chest and turning my head. I can feel him shifting and he puts his hand on the side of my face and slowly turns my head back towards him and puts his lips on mine again. The medicine is really starting to take effect now, and I just lay there and whimper quietly and kiss him back. Delicate, warm, little kisses on the lips. I can feel his mouth curl into a smile as I'm kissing him.

"You kiss like a little angel…" he whispers out. I let out a slow whisper like moan almost like a giggle and I hear him chuckle.

He leans down to kiss me again and this time he's more aggressive about it. My entire body shudders as our kiss deepens. I can feel his wet, slippery, sensual tongue sliding around in my mouth and I'm responding. My entire body arches up and I feel him slip his arms around me and roll on top of me. I whimper a few times at the feel of him straddling me. Then he takes his legs and spreads my legs and slides in between them until my crotch is pressed against the front of his hips. He's still kissing me as he's in between my legs and I'm shaking under him. I break the kiss and turn my head to the side, panting and shivering.

"I'm cold…" I say reaching up to him and putting my hands on his chest. I roll my head back to look at him because he isn't responding, and I strain to open my eyes. He's looking at my half naked body under him. I gasp as I realize he's gawking at me, and my nipples poking through my shirt.

"I can tell…" He looks up at me realizing I'm looking at him and smiles a sexy smile. I take my arms and throw them across my chest, but he reaches down and takes my hands away and holds them out to my sides.

"What…are you doing?" I drawl out eyes fluttering, very dopey from the shot.

He doesn't respond but leans down and starts kissing my neck. I jerk away from him but he just holds me tight and continues his attack on my neck. I let out a higher pitched moan, and like always, it drives him insane. He sinks his teeth into my neck and softly bites down cause me to yelp and squirm under him.

"Stop…don't…" I say struggling under him.

He still doesn't say anything and just continues mauling me. When I feel his hands reach down to the band of my panties and start pulling them off I panic. Even in my drugged state I start thrashing around wildly and screeching.

"Oh…I'm going to enjoy this…" he breaths as he pulls my panties down off my body.

I'm kicking hard and screaming at the top of my lungs but everything is starting to fade.

"No…let go of me….get off…" Fading slowly, and I'm whispering. I can feel the air changing around me and someone else is now there.

"Laiss…Laiss its me…wake up…" I know that voice.

I flutter my eyes open and I'm back where I was. I'm in my bed at Wayne Manor. I look up and Bruce is sitting near me stretched out over me. He's wearing his bat suit but has taken his mask off. The room now has the lights back on.

I jerk up at the feel of him so close to me and slide sideways. "What the hell….what happened?" my eyes are wide and my heart is pounding.

"I just came in to tell you that the power was off and that I was back but you freaked out when I came near you and ran and knocked yourself silly. I picked you up and put you on the bed." He says looking me up and down.

I sit there for a few minutes just blinking my eyes and panting, until Bruce speaks and snaps me out of my trance.

"Are…you ok?" he says twisting around and sitting so that he's facing me.

"Yeah…I was just…having a nightmare. I was somewhere else." I put my eyebrows together as shake my head at the memory of that dream. "It was so real…"

"What were you dreaming about?"

My face flushes red and I know he can see it. I cast my eyes down and shrug.

I hear him let out a deep sigh. "You were dreaming about him, weren't you?"

I squeeze my eyes shut for a second then look back up at him. I can tell he's irritated. "Every time I close my eyes…he's there." I can feel the tears building and I try my best to control them from spilling down my face.

To my surprise, he isn't all that upset. "As long as they stay just dreams. And tomorrow, the council will clear everything up." My heart tightens slightly. _What if they tell me Bruce is my soul mate? Do I have to…have sex with him? Why me? Why does the entire fate of two worlds rest on me loosing my virginity. Who's idea of a joke is this? _"Laiss?" Bruce says causing me to jerk and look at him. "You ok?"

"Yeah…I'm fine. I'm just still tired I guess and too scared to fall asleep." I shift around on the bed and pull the covers up on me to cover up because Bruce is still eyeing me.

"Do you want me to sleep in here with you?" He's half joking and half not.

I purse my lips and think for a minute. "Actually, I'd feel safer if someone was in here with me." His eyes shoot open at that.

"Are you serious!?" He can hardly contain his enthusiasm.

"Yes. But no funny business." I give him a look and he nods.

"Well let me go get showered and changed, and I will be right back in." He says getting up and almost running out of the room.

_Oh this probably isn't a good idea. He's gonna get all randy in the middle of the night and try to jump on me. What time is it anyways?_ I glance at the clock and notice its three in the morning exactly. _Well at least there isn't much time to go before day light. I wonder what the Joker is doing anyways…he must be going crazy now that I went off with Batman. _I close my eyes and picture his face and half smirk. I'm remembering the way he touched me when he had me, the way he kissed me. I can actually feel his hands on my body. I fantasize for what seems like an eternity, and begin to squirm slightly at my memories.

'_Laiss…'_

I jerk up and my eyes snap open. _What the hell!_ _That was the Joker. I know it was, I'd know that voice any where! _I nervously look around the room for the source of the voice, but to my half dismay and half relief there's no one there. _So then what was that? _I shake my head and run my hand down my blankets. _I must be loosing my mind for real now I'm hearing him._

'_That is such a pretty pink nightgown…' _

This time I jump out of the bed and start moving things. _I bet he has a microphone and camera around here or something. Spying on me, fucker. _My hands are shaking as I'm fumbling around in the dresser drawers looking for anything out of the ordinary.

'_I'm not spying on you Laiss.'_ My heart stops in my chest. _How did he know what I was thinking?! _

'_And what dirty little thoughts they were…' _My face flushes.

"Stop it…" I breath out, feeling rather stupid talking to…nothing.

'_Can you see me Laiss? I know you can hear me…'_

"No…I don't want to see you!" I whisper out frantic, his voice is getting louder and closer now.

'_Oh I think you do Laiss. I saw what you were thinking about me, you naughty little girl.' _His words and voice make me shudder and throw my arms around myself.

"I didn't…" he cuts me off with a high pitched laugh.

'_Oh but you did. Don't worry…' _This is when I feel it. On the back of my neck I feel someone breathing. I can feel his hands slowly running down my arms, and then his lips kissing my shoulder. _'…when I find out where Batsy took you…' _Then I feel hot breathing near my ear. _'…I'm going to come for you…' _From behind me, I feel two arms wrap around me but there's nothing there, and I feel someone nibbling on my ear. My knees start to shake. _'And make all your dirty little fantasies come true…' _I gasp out at his words, his tongue running delicately up my ear. Unable to move, I stand there shivering in the Joker's ghostly embrace. _'And Laiss…' _his grip tightens around me. _'I'm a man of my word…' _

"Laiss?" Bruce's voice comes from the doorway. He's now dressed in just what looks like silk bed pants and nothing else. If I wasn't so disturbed by the Joker, it would have been a sight to behold. Standing there panting, heart pounding, face flushed, with my knees together, I try to open my mouth to talk to Bruce but nothing comes out but a squeak. "Laiss??" Bruce comes over to me and I shrink back. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"He…was here…" I reach up and feel my ear. It's wet. I rub some of it off and look at my hand. Not only is there saliva on my ear, but there are traces of white and red paint. Shakily I hold my hand up and Bruce looks at it confused, but then realizes what it is.

"What do you mean….here?" His eyes narrow. "There's no way he would find you here…"

"He was…in my head…talking to me. He was…touching me." My lips are trembling now. "I'm scared…"

"Its going to be alright. Tomorrow we will find out what the hell is going on here, and how to stop all this." He says stepping closer to me.

'_Oh and Laiss…' _I softly gasp and Bruce's eyebrows go up. _'If batsy so much as breaths on you…I'll kill him.'_ I'm shivering now.

"Get out of my head…" I close my eyes and grit my teeth. As soon as I say this, his presence is totally gone from me. I open my eyes and Bruce is looking at me confused.

"Was it him again?"

"Yes…" I say walking over to the bathroom. "I will be right out."

I go in the bathroom and shut the door. I go to the bathroom and then get up to wash my hands and then run warm water on my face and my ear where he was licking me. I dry my face off and then stare at myself in the mirror. Bags under my eyes, very pale…I look like death. _I need some decent sleep. Please, just give me a few solid hours to sleep…quit haunting me. _Walking out of the bathroom I notice Bruce is laying propped up on the head board with his hands behind his head.

"What are you doing?" I say stopping in my tracks.

"You said you wanted someone to sleep in here with you." He says giving me that all famous playboy look which causes me to cross my arms and glare at him. He sits up and puts his hands up. "I promise, no funny business." I roll my eyes and walk over to the bed and crawl in under the covers and pull them up to my neck cuddling down into my pillow. When I'm done moving around I look up and he's looking at me with those big brown eyes.

"What?" I tilt my head up.

The corners of his mouth pull down and he shakes his head trying to look innocent. "Nothing, was just waiting for you to get comfortable."

I almost jump out of the bed when he slides under the blankets near me. My heart starts to pound in my chest and I swear he's going to notice. When he pulls the covers to his chest and gets all settled down I reach over and click the light off near the bed. _Well thank God this bed is huge._ Rolling back to face him, I can just make him out in the dim light from the nightlights.

"Good night Bruce." I say yawning.

"Night Laiss…" He's looking right at me and it makes me curl around myself a little tighter.

I turn over and lay there awake for the longest time and I believe he did too but I never turned around or asked if he was awake. _Oh my God I can't fall asleep. What if he like decides to hump me in his sleep? Ugh…_I bit my lips trying not to giggle. Eventually my eye lids became heavy, and I fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

When I wake up, I'm extremely warm and the blankets sure do feel heavy around my waist, and there is something kind of hard against my back. I can see the morning sunlight from behind my eyelids, and I smile. And wow this pillow is bumpy. _I must of rolled off the bed or something here._ When I do peep my eyes open to see I notice there is an arm draped over my waist tangled in the blankets, and my eyes go wide. _Ok Laiss…don't freak out. Don't freak out._ My heart starts thumping faster than it was and I swear the whole bed is shaking. I wiggle a little bit to feel if what I think is going on is really going on and indeed, it is. Someone is curled tightly behind me with his arm around my waist and his arm under my neck and head. Someone is spooning me. Someone is cuddling me. _Gee I wonder who that could be._ Very slowly I try to slide out from his arms but he stirs and throws both his arms around me and holds me. I can hear him breathing lighter and his heart beat is speeding up. When he speaks I almost jump out of my skin.

"Well good morning..." Bruce says softly in my ear.

"Uh….good morning…I have to go to the bathroom." I whisper out trying to wiggle from him but he's being a wise ass and holding me still.

"Just a few more seconds…come on I promise I won't try anything…" He whispers back from behind me. I sigh softly and stop trying to get away and just lay back into his embrace. He is warm after all, and I don't really want to get up just yet. It's hard not to shake and be a bit nervous though, I'm not really use to people being this close to me.

"Why are you shaking?" Bruce's question embarrasses me. _Well now how do I tell him that I'm shaking because I'm afraid of him, and afraid of the Joker killing him, and afraid I'm cheating on the Joker here, and that I really have to go pee now, and I'm not use to human contact…._ "Laiss?"

"I don't know…" I say as I shift around.

As soon as I settle again, the shaking continues and I know he can feel it.

"You don't have to be afraid of me you know…" It feels like someone just kicked me in the stomach when he says this, and I have to fight back tears. _Oh I have good reason to be afraid of you._ "I would never hurt you." _Famous last words…why do I feel like I've heard that one before?_

"I'm not scared of you…" I say lying and I know he knows I'm lying.

We lay there for what seems like an eternity and then he moves away from me and gets up out of the bed and I turn over just in time to see him stretching. _Holy Christ would you look at the muscles in his back…_I can't help it, he's stacked.

He turns around and looks at me and you can tell he's just waking up. He looks rather good in the morning light. "Alfred will have breakfast ready in about 30 minutes, and will be coming up here to wake us both up." I glance over at the clock and its 8:30 a.m.

"Alright…I'm going to go take a shower at least and can get dressed after breakfast." I say moving the covers off me and sliding up out of the bed.

"Well I need to take one too…" he cocks an eyebrow at me and smirks.

I can't help but smile. "Smart ass…" I say walking away into the bathroom. I can hear him chuckling as he walks out of the bedroom.

When I click the light on and then turn to look at the mirror, I have to choke back a earth shattering scream. My heart is pounding and I'm trying to remain conscious looking over the scene.

Blood has been playfully scribbled on the mirror, a deep red almost black long stem rose inside what I'm pretty sure is a crystal vase is sitting on the side of the sink, and a small jewelry box is laying at the base of the crystal vase.

**~For you my love...HAHAHAHAHAHA~**

**~P.S.-Now I really **_**do**_** have to kill Batsey…~**


	8. A freak, like me!

_**Phoenix**_: As promised, I've picked up the pace and here is chapter 8. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and again I'm really sorry its taken so long in between the last few chapters, the holiday season has been super busy. I'm going to aim for a chapter every week to every two weeks, but if for some reason that doesn't happen don't worry I don't plan on leaving this story unfinished.

_**JOKER:**_ You better not leave this unfinished…(he says as he twirls a knife in his hand)

_**Laiss:**_ Yeah…what he said…(she says as she mocks him)

_**JOKER: **_You think that's funny do you! C'mere! (Joker runs after Laiss who runs off squealing.

* * *

Up until this point in this whole absurd ordeal, I had done pretty well in keeping my head and not having a mental or physical breakdown. Considering that everything landed in my lap all at once; the Joker stepping through my mirror as if he'd stepped out of the movie at me, batman stepping out of the darkness at my grandmothers house, being told I was some sort of powerful being and had powers that had yet to come to maturity since I was still young yet, being brought here to Gotham city that is not suppose to even exist outside a comic book or a movie, being 'romanced' by the multi-billionaire Bruce Wayne, and the fact that I very well might have to loose my virginity, willingly I hoped, to save two worlds.

Up until now that is. It's always the small things that tend to catch me the wrong way and knock me down-literally. Seeing the blood on the mirror, and the rose, and the jewelry box was all just a little bit too much for me to handle. I slid down the door of the bathroom until I landed on my rear end with a loud _thud _and just sat there staring wide eyed, twitching, while tears streaked down my face. It wasn't the fact that the Joker was haunting me somehow, or how the hell could he have gotten in here or even known where I was, or the blood scribbled on the mirror (and trust me it was blood, I could smell it-sweet and salty and somewhat metallic smelling), it was the fact that…someone had actually left me a present. Not even my family had just left random gifts laying around for me to show me that they…cared? Is that even the word I want to use? My heart felt like it was breaking, and my chest felt hallow_. How bad can he be? _Never mind the fact that he used blood to write on the mirror. In some twisted little way, to me, it was romantic. Not that I had much experience in dealing with romance in my own personal life besides a few dates here and there, but I had read great romance novels and considered myself a very romantic person.

Of all the thoughts and emotions rushing through me, love seemed to be the strongest one. A million thoughts raced in my head, but the ones that seemed predominate, were when would I see him next, when would I be able to hold him again, when would I be able to finally just kiss him without fear. I know, I'm strange. A freak, just like him. Maybe that's what attracted me to him in the first place. I had always taken a strange liking to criminals and psychos of all types-you know 'bad boys'. Perhaps that's why I never really was interested in the mild and meek mannered boys at my school. I had always secretly believed, deep down, that I wasn't meant for this ordinary life or any ordinary man. I had always knew somehow that it was somewhat normal for a teenage girl to be this way-the thoughts, the feelings, and the attraction to 'bad boys', but I had always taken it to an extreme. I always kept it under control though, unlike all my other female teenage friends. I had never screamed wildly over a man, or passed out, or done any of that over the top nonsense. The only man I had ever really felt any true and deep emotion for was the Joker. I saw him the first time and it was like someone stuck me right in the heart with a knife. I had never felt so much pain in my entire life. And the fact that he wasn't real, just intensified it. I had never let anyone know about it though, I was very shy about it. But oh, people knew something was up. I wasn't eating, wasn't sleeping, was singing to myself, was positively glowing. That's when this mess started.

And now here I sit. Legs sprawled out every which way, mouth twitching, eyes wide and blurry with tears, staring at the scene before me. I almost ran right out of that bathroom to go find the Joker and jump on him and hug him, kiss him and maul him for being so sweet to me. Or to punch him in his face, I can't decide.

Then I heard a soft knocking on the door from behind me which causes me to jerk slightly. "Laiss?" _Oh shit, its Bruce_. I quickly and silently stand up and face the door.

"Yes?" my voice is rough, but very steady.

"Are you alright in there?" there is concern in his soft voice.

"Uh…yeah…I'm fine…why?" I say putting my hand against the door.

"I thought I heard something hit the floor and was wondering if you were alright. Can I come in?" his voice is so sincere.

My stomach tightens up and I look back to the set up hoping it somehow just disappeared into thin air, but its still there. And I swear-its laughing at me.

"Uhhh…not right now…give me a few minutes ok?" I say pushing myself up against the door praying he won't just barge in.

"Ok…I will go take my shower now. You sure you're ok in there?" he's stalling.

"Yeah….yeah I'm just fine…" I say trying to keep my voice stable while looking at the Joker set up.

"Ok." I can hear him walking away.

I let out a huge rush of air and then walk over to the mirror. _Now how the hell am I going to clean this mess off before someone sees it._ I reach into the bathroom closet and grab a yellow hand towel and get it soaking wet under the tap of the sink, and start washing off the blood. Much to my relief, it comes off relatively fast and easy. Rinsing out a bloody hand towel, however, is another story. The stains seem to stick to it and I figure if I dry it out and then hide it, I can dispose of it later so no one sees it. Then I take the hand towel that was hanging there already and dry the wet mirror off, trying to move fast so I have time to take a shower and get down there before anyone gets suspicious. I hang the hand towel up after finishing drying the mirror to the best of my ability, and then look over at the rose. Such a beautiful rose, it must be a special type because I've never seen a rose that deep in color before, its literally dark scarlet almost black. I lean over to sniff it but then hesitate thinking maybe its poisoned or something. _Oh don't be a dimwit Laiss. Why would he give you a poisoned rose??_ Smirking, I step in front of it to smell it. It smells even better than it looks, if that was even possible. Highly fragrant and sweet, almost intoxicating. My head buzzes slightly and I swear I just got drowsy. When I stop sniffing it, the effect stops, but I feel all warm and dreamy. Then my eyes slowly track down to the small jewelry box. _Its probably a pissed off scorpion._ I can't help but let out a giggle, and I can almost hear the Joker saying 'Oh very funny Laiss' but I know its just my imagination. _Do I dare open this now?_ _I will open it when I come back up to get dressed._ I pick it up gently and run out of the bathroom and shove it in the top of my suitcase and then run back into the bathroom and shut the door. Thinking for a minute, I finally take the rose and run back out of the bathroom and shove it in the very back of the closet where no one will find it. _At least I hope no one will find it._

I run back into the bathroom and strip my clothes off and take my shower and try to hurry up about it. I'm not all that excited for breakfast, I'm actually dreading it. I want to get back up to my room as fast as possible so that I can see what's in that box. When I get done with my shower I dry my hair out real quick and then comb it and run out and put my deodorant and powder on. Then throw the thick, white terry cloth robe on that was left in the bathroom hanging on the back of the door and walk fast downstairs to the dinning hall.

When I come around the corner, Alfred is standing there talking to Bruce, but I can't hear what they're saying. Bruce is the first to notice me and then Alfred looks up and me.

"Ah there you are miss. Breakfast will be ready in about 5 minutes." Alfred says walking out into the kitchen area.

"Well good morning again." Bruce says standing up and smiling at me.

"Good morning…" I say dreamy, half smiling at him. I can't help but notice how sexy he looks._ Wait a minute…sexy?? He does look unusually hot…I never really noticed how… utterly handsome he is._ The urge to saunter over and straddle him and sit on his lap and talk about the first thing that pops up is almost unbearable. _Oh Christ, it was poisoned. I'm going to die. Should I tell Bruce?_

"Laiss?" Bruce says walking closer to me, snapping me out of my day dream but not out of my fog. "Are you alright? You look a bit…distracted?"

"Hmmm?" I drawl out. "No…I'm alright. Just hungry. I have hypoglycemia and it makes me a bit goofy when I haven't eaten." My eyes flitter when I try to blink as if I'm on drugs or something. _It was poisoned…or something…bastard. _

"Oh I didn't know you had a medical condition! Why didn't you say something?" He says pulling out my chair for me as Alfred brings out a tray.

"Medical condition?" Alfred asks, looking at me.

"Laiss has hypoglycemia, and never told me." Bruce says looking at me with that look that says 'for shame'.

"Ah. My Aunt had that, and it was a pretty nasty thing indeed. She will need to eat every three to four hours, so remember that Master Wayne." Alfred says winking at me.

"Oh I will." Bruce says smirking at me.

"Your concern is nice but not necessary I can take care of myself you know." I say sitting down in my chair as Bruce pushes it in under me._ I hate having such a stupid weakness. And I really hate it when people dote over me like I'm a helpless child or worse….spoiled._

Bruce leans down and whispers in my ear, "I know you can, but like I said, I'd like to take care of you." His words and voice in my ear make me shiver and get all hot. He walks down and sits down as Alfred sets our plates in front of us.

"Wow…Thank you Alfred…" I drawl out as I look at the food before me. _How on earth did he know I liked dippy eggs and toast and bacon??_

"You're very welcome miss." Alfred smiles as he pours us some orange juice, then leaves for the kitchen.

Bruce doesn't wait long before he starts talking to me, and as always perfect timing-right as I'm sticking food in my mouth. "So….how'd you sleep last night?" I look up at him and he has his head slightly tilted downward and is looking up at me with _that _smirk on his face. I can feel my entire face flushing red, and he chuckles very softly. "Yeah…me too…" He says starting to eat. Squinting my eyes at him and shaking my head causes him to actually laugh out loud, and I can't help but smile.

"So…we go see the council today?" I ask timidly.

Bruce stops what he's doing and sighs. "Yes…"

"Well that ought to be fun. Are you going as Bruce Wayne or Batman?" I say trying so hard not to smirk.

He looks at me and smiles as if to say 'wise ass'. "I'm going as Bruce Wayne. The Joker shouldn't be a problem, and I'm pretty sure nothing else will happen that requires batman."

"Oh…" I say sounding rather disappointed. _He's even hotter in that batsuit...what the hell am I thinking???…_

"Besides, batman rolling down the road in the middle of the day in his tumbler might cause more attention than we want."

"True…" I say rubbing my eyes. Suddenly I'm starting to feel very strange. I let out a soft rush of air and lean back in the chair.

"Laiss are you alright?" Bruce says reaching for my hand and holding it, causing my heart to palpitate.

"I don't know…I feel kind of funny." I say looking at him. The vision is a little fuzzy. _That BASTARD drugged me I'm going to KILL him…_My thoughts instantly shift to the Joker, and I can see his face, smiling at me as if mocking me.

'_Do you really think I'd do that?' _The Joker's voice in my head causes me to sit straight up.

"Laiss? What is it?" Bruce gently squeezes my hand, and for some reason the pressure goes…south.

"Nothing…I'm just…I'm going to go get dressed…" I say shakily standing up taking my hand away from Bruce and if I didn't know any better I'd say he was hurt that I did.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look a bit pale." He says squinting his eyes a little.

I shake my head yes and start walking away and then when I'm out of the room I dash upstairs to my room. As soon as I'm in my room I shut my door quietly.

"Where are you!" I whisper out infuriated, looking around the room.

'_I'm right here. Did you get my gifts?' _

"I got your POISONED rose you FUCK and now I can't think straight!" I'm trying to keep my voice at a whisper.

'_Now now…its not poisoned. You aren't use to the flowers from this world yet. And you have no clue about botany in this world. It's what is known as a cupid's arrow rose, a very rare hybrid flower. It will make you feel all uh dreamy and romantic for a short while but its nothing to be alarmed about. Did you get my other gift?'_

"I didn't have time to open that…I had to go eat I'm a hypoglycemic. I planned on opening it now but I can't with you….watching or listening or whatever it is you're doing. By the way….how are you talking to me anyways?"

'_A telepathic string walker asking me how I'm talking to her….hehehhohohhahahahHAHAHHAHAA now THAT'S funny!'_

"It's not funny!! You're not telepathic!" I snarl out stomping my foot lightly as possible.

'_You're adorable when you're mad you know…'_

"Stop TOYING with me!!" I hiss out, my anger rising. "Tell me how you're talking to me right this instant or so help me I will throw that box out the window!"

I hear more laughter and I let out a harsh growl. _'My what a temper you have hehehehehe…I'm talking through another string walker. Much like a uh walky talky. It works better if you're thinking of me. You sort of uh dial my 'number' when you think of me. My string walker here can pick that up when you do. I can also partially see you through her. Now I told you, go open my other gift.'_

"Oh this is…so…utterly...EMBARASSING!!!" I rattle out as I go to my suitcase to get the box. I pick it up gently and look at it, half afraid to open it. "It's not a pissed off scorpion or tarantula is it?"

'_Oh don't be silly. C'mon…open it.'_

I look down at the box and sigh. It's a small red velvet box, with gold hinges. My stomach is all tight and has butterflies in it. I slowly and cautiously opened the box and I take a deep inhale and just stop breathing. I can't believe what I'm seeing inside the red velvet lined box. A sudden wave of lightheadedness sweeps over me and I almost pass out right where I'm standing.

If there ever was a ring for an empress, this would have been it. It was the daintiest, most artfully crafted, most perfect ring I've ever seen. It was made of white gold, of that I was sure. My favorite metal. There were fifteen dainty hearts, all the way around, facing opposite of each other. Filling each heart, was a fine grade amethyst. My birthstone. This was the ring I dream about, the one I constructed out of my mind. The ring I wanted to be my engagement ring. How did he know?!

"My God…" is all I can choke out staring at the contents of the box.

I can hear him softly giggling to himself, obviously pleased. _'I take it you like your present…I knew you would. I had that specially handcrafted for you.'_

My heart is bleeding now, and I don't think I'm going to remain conscious. I don't think I can take anymore. Slowly, I sink to the floor and sprawl out, sobbing uncontrollably. This is all too much for me to bear, this can't be real.

'_Laiss? Laiss??' _His voice now sounds very concerned.

I'm choking and gagging, trying not to puke up my breakfast. It feels like someone just punched me in the heart. _Why does this hurt so bad….what the hell is wrong with me??? It's just a ring….no its not just a ring….its 'the' ring. The ring I dreamed up. How did he know?! What the hell…what the hell!!_

'_Laiss??'_

"Get out of my HEAD!!!' I scream out, and all at once he's gone. Still sobbing, I reach up and take the ring out of the box and look up at it through my tears and strands of hair that had fallen over my face. I sit up and wipe my tears on the sleeve of my robe and push my hair back away from my face. Staring down at the ring, my heart is breaking all over again. _Why are you doing this to me?? Do you delight in causing me pain?? Do you have any idea how much it will hurt when you use me and then throw me away???_

"Laiss??" Bruce's voice comes from outside of the door, causing me to jump up.

"Yes?" I say wiping my tears away and walking to the door and opening it.

"Are you alright?" He says as he walks in. "I thought I heard you scream."

"Yeah I'm fine." I say sitting on the bed.

"Have you been crying?" He leans his head down slightly, taking a closer look at me.

"No.." I say wiping my face. "Just allergies." I'm trying to hide my wobbling voice and churned up insides, but I think he knows.

"Well…alright. I'm going to get dressed now so we can go get this over with finally." He says sighing.

"Ok. I will be dressed in just a few minutes."

"Are you sure you're alright, you look like someone just died or something." He says walking towards the door.

"Yeah I'm ok." I'm trying not to burst into tears.

"If you say so…" he sighs and walks out the door and shuts it.

Lifting my hand up and looking at the ring again, I let out a huge rush of air. I slide it gently on my ring finger and it fits perfectly. I see the Jokers smiling face in my mind. _It's beautiful…thank you...Jack. _Saying his real name causes the emotions well up in me. To stop myself from going into hysterics again, I get up and start looking for some clothes.

­­­

* * *

"You're welcome Laiss…" The Joker whispers to himself, smiling softly, smacking his lips with his eyes closed. He's pleased that I absolutely love my gift, but even more pleased that I thanked him using his real name.

"You need to be more careful with her. She's very fragile emotionally. You could easily kill her with heartache." A soft female voice says from directly in front of him.

The Joker snaps his eyes open at the woman in front of him and pulls his hand away from her shoulder. She's dressed in a black robe and has long flowing black hair. It's the same woman from my dream earlier. He's not in his traditional clothing or in his makeup, he's dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, and his hair is fluffed out around his face.

"I know that idiot." He snaps at her, licking the sides of his mouth slowly.

"I'm serious. She's more fragile than a normal girl because of what and who she is. Her soul wouldn't be able to handle that again and you could kill her. You need to be a little more careful with what you do to her. I still say you let us take care of it. She will succumb much quicker that way…"

"I don't want her _that _way. I want her own free will. What is so uh hard to understand about that?" He's glaring at her with his black deadly eyes.

"Free will is over rated." She scoffs. "I think you're actually in love with this girl…you're loosing sight of what we are trying to accomplish here."

The Joker's eyes narrow, as he bares his teeth at her snarling. "Mind your own business, _sorceress, _or I'll turn you over to the council myself. I haven't uh lost sight of a damn thing." Little does this wench know, the Joker doesn't do plans, or schemes…even if he said he would. He's just waiting.

She puts her hands up as if to block him from killing her. "I was just saying….it would be much easier our way. Your men are getting impatient, as are we. We need to get her to submit to you before the six month period is up for her. Or indeed, the worlds will be torn to shreds, and all will be lost. All that's required to save the worlds and combine them is you need to fuck her…" The Joker shoots her a nasty look. "Make love to her, whatever. But as far as world domination and control and total anarchy go, you will need to gain control of her."

"_Don't_ talk to me like I'm a child. I'm aware of what needs to be done." The Joker turns away and walks towards his giant mirror in his room. "Where are you Laiss?" he whispers out, staring into the mirror. The longing in his eyes and the way he slowly licks his lips makes the woman there even more suspicious that he is indeed, in love with me.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

* * *

The sunlight feels so good on my skin when I walk out of the front doors of Wayne Manor I have to stop to soak it in for a second. I haven't been outside in what feels like an eternity. It's a nice hot summer day, and the heat is rolling off the pavement. Even the birds are half heartedly chirping due to the sweltering heat. When I do look down the steps to the front driveway, I see Bruce standing against the side of his fantastic dark metallic blue Lamborghini, dressed in what I would classify business casual. A light blue dress shirt with a pair of black dress pants, and black dress shoes, and of course, his sunglasses. Well now I feel a little under dressed wearing my dark denim jean shorts, white racer back tank top, and of course my wheely sneakers. Bruce looks at me and smiles.

"Ready?" He says opening the car door for me.

"Ready as I'll ever be I suppose." I smile back at him as I slide inside and he shuts the door for me. _Wow this is some sweet ride._ He climbs in to the drivers seat next to me and starts it up.

"Now, we need to be extremely careful when we're out. The Joker, or anyone else that wanted to for that matter, can track your energy signature as soon as you leave the manor." Bruce says as he's starts driving.

"How's that?" I ask leaning back in the seat enjoying the ride.

"Well, I installed devices surrounding the property and inside the manor as well to hide your energy signature. It works really well, but it's only limited to the manor and the surrounding property or any other building and surrounding area of my choosing. You won't be protected in any building and he could find you any where." Bruce says glancing at me when I sit up to look at the sights. "So don't get any ideas of running off away from me." He says a little louder.

I look at him and smirk. "Awwww gee dad…"

He glances at me out of the corner of his eye and shakes his head and smiles. "Very drole." This is when he notices my ring. "Where did you get that?"

My heart jumps in my throat. It's one of those moments where you know damn well you should tell the truth, but then again know damn well you shouldn't.

"Uh…my dad got it for me for Christmas…" I say trying not to sound too nervous. I'm a terrible liar.

"I see. Does your father travel to this world often to find jewelry for you?" Bruce says to me as he's looking straight ahead.

"I don't really know if he does or not…What makes you say its from this world?" My stomach is starting to churn now.

"I know jewelry. Those amethysts don't exist in your world, they are what is known here as black amethyst. A very rare, and extremely expensive stone." He says as he picks my hand up to look at them. "Those stones alone would of set your father back about $15,000 alone. They only exist in one area in our world, and I own the mine. And the design looks similar to Feline designers, a small but very lucrative jewelry designer over in France. I do business with them. They don't just have rings setting out for people to buy, everything is custom made. So that would of set your father back about $10,000 just for having them custom make the ring for you."

"You mean…this ring is worth around….$25,0000??" I sputter, looking at it.

"Give or take a few grand, depending on how well your father knows the jeweler. You're father must really love you." He says in a tone that says he knows I'm lying

"I guess…" I breath out. This causes my heart to feel like its been stabbed once again and causes me to wince slightly in pain. Bruce notices but doesn't say anything. _$25,000 dollars…why would anyone spend that much on me?? He must be crazy! _I have to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from giggling on that one. _Of course he's crazy…he's the fuckin Joker!!!_ My humor helps hide the internal pain caused by this ring. I've never been a big fan of jewelry, or any thing fancy really. I'm just not the type of girl that can be bought. But for some reason, the fact that any one go through so much trouble and money to get me something they knew I'd love…endears me to him. It isn't really that it cost so much. It could have been a gumball machine ring that looked like this. It's that it's the ring that _I _personally dreamed up as my wedding band. I still don't understand how he knew that or how he got in the manor, if he even did get in there and didn't have his personal string walker put it there somehow. The more I think of it the more I work myself into an emotional frenzy. And he did say it was a female string walker, making me actually twinge with jealousy. _What, does he have a whole collection….harem of beautiful string walkers and just wants to add me to the collection?? _The tears are threatening to spill over, and Bruce has taken notice of me fidgeting in the seat but doesn't say anything to me about it.

For the rest of the car ride, not a word is spoken. The only other noise that is heard is Bruce's cell ringing, and Alfred telling him that a few clients called and that there was a strange disturbance of energy last night sometime near the manor. I think Bruce knew that I was lying about where I got the ring, but for whatever reason he doesn't say another word about it.

Rolling up into the middle of Gotham City, I see the tallest buildings I've ever seen in my life, all different colors and shapes. People are hurriedly walking down the streets, some are walking their dogs, some are dressed in work out clothing. There are little boutiques and restaurants almost every other building. Some people stop to stare or watch as we go by and I wish he'd drive a little faster. I bet they are wondering who Bruce Wayne has riding in his car with him this time. We turn a corner at the end of what seems to be the main street in Gotham, and drive all the way to the end. Set back away from the road, in the center of a grassy green lot sprinkled with trees, is a large building that almost looks like an old church. To my surprise, this is the building we turn up into and stop at the gate.

"May I help you?" A sweet female voice comes over the intercom at the gate.

Bruce leans out of the car a little, trying to keep his voice down. "Bruce Wayne is here with Laiss Wyatt to see the council."

"Come on in Mr. Wayne." The voice sounds unusually eager as the gates slowly open in front of us.

He slowly drives up to the building, giving me a better look at it. It's a bit creepy looking, and has gargoyles perched on roof and over the windows. The stairs that go to the doors seem to go up forever. We drive up to the front of the building and Bruce parks directly in front instead of over to the side in the parking lot.

Reaching down and unbuckling himself, he looks at me. "Here we are."

Unbuckling myself as Bruce gets out of the car, I can't help but be severely nervous. I have no idea what to expect in here. They could be working with the Joker for all I know and he could be in there ready to jump out and grab me. _Would I really mind at this point if he did?_ I can't help but smirk at that thought. Bruce opens my door before I can even reach for the handle, causing me to scowl at him as I step out, but he just smiles that smile of his and it makes me smirk. _I hate being taken care of. _We start walking up the steps when I hear voices in my head causing me to wobble and little and stop.

"Are you alright?" Bruce says putting his hand under my elbow.

"Yeah…" I say softly and start walking again.

'_Laiss…' _The Joker's voice in my head causes me to start running up the last few steps, with Bruce close behind me. _Get out of my head….go away….not now…_

We get up to the front doors and Bruce walks in first opening the cathedral like door for me and the air that comes out smells like flowers and a little bit like incense. When I walk in it takes me a minute for my eyes to fully adjust to the darkness in the area I'm standing in. Ahead of me is a stair case and I can see clear up to the second story of the building, and can see shadows moving around. In front of me there is a long hallway rooms off to the right and left along each side. Towards the back of the hallway there is a large open room, leading to another room. There are various paintings and world atlases all over the wall. I look over to my left on the wall and notice portraits of people. One in particular catches my eye. Ignoring the fact that I have no idea who's in here or what's going to happen next, I walk over to it. What I see mesmerizes me. I can't believe it. The portrait is of a girl, who looks exactly like me. The portrait looks to be thousands of years old, and looks like its been restored many times over. Her hair is the same as mine, her eyes are the same, but her clothing is different. She's wearing a royal purple dress, and a necklace of what I think to be diamonds cascading down her neck. I look down to the name plate and it reads 'Ishia Cavetello'

"What in the world…" My eyes track over the last name over and over. This can't be possible.

"Laiss Wyatt?" I hear a soft female voice from beside me. I turn to look and there is a woman standing about 10 feet from me. She looks to be in her 30's, with soft curly brown hair and light brown eyes with a blue ring around her pupil. She's wearing a robe just like my grandmother would wear, only its multi-colored with white stars cascading down it. I feel that I know her from somewhere, and the feeling I get from her is very strange. It's like she knows me too, and has known me all my life.

"Yes?" I say softly stepping back to Bruce's side and then slightly behind him.

She smiles sweetly at me and holds her hand out. "You don't have to be afraid child. We've waited for you for many millennia's."

It's like someone just kicked me in the stomach. _Did she just say….millennia's as in…thousands of years??? How can that even be possible?_ My head starts to buzz and I swoon and Bruce catches me.

"Laiss! Laiss!!" Bruce gently holds me up as I fade.

"Too much…" I whisper out, almost fading into unconsciousness.


	9. The council

_**Phoenix: **_As promised, I have picked up the pace!!! Two chapters in one week go me!! Tee hee ^-^. I hope you all enjoy where this story is going so far.

_**Laiss:**_ This is getting interesting…

_**JOKER:**_ (licks lips and snakes arm around Laiss and pulls her into him) Oh you have no idea…

_**Laiss:**_ (looks up at Joker with soft eyes and they start kissing)

_**Phoenix:**_ Not yet you two come on!!!

* * *

By now, the woman has walked over to us. I look up at her and throw my arms around Bruce's neck much to his surprise and delight. He gently lifts me up and stands me on my feet but I'm too wobbly to stand so he holds me in his arms.

"I'm sorry…I don't feel so good…" I can feel my face getting hotter, and my entire body feels drained of energy.

"Come, sit down in here." The woman says motioning us down the hallway to the back room.

Bruce steadies me as we walk down the hallway. Well actually they walk keeping a careful eye on me and I sort of wobble like a drunk as I go. When we get into the room, I notice its larger than it looks from out in front, and has doors leading to other areas I assume and a wide open door leading straight to outside. There are comfortable chairs and couches everywhere with red velvet with golden trim, with deep cherry wood long coffee tables in between each place. This room seems to be less decorated than the rest of the house, besides the forest of potted plants that seems to fill the entire room. Bruce leads me over to the first couch near the door and gently sets me down and sits down next to me. Curling up close to him as he sits down takes everyone, even me by surprise.

"There now young one, is that better?" The woman says as she sits down in a high backed chair across the coffee table from where we are sitting.

"Yes…sorry, I got a little dizzy. I seem to be doing that a lot lately." The annoyance in my voice at my own weakness is very apparent.

"Its ok, you've had quite the ordeal over the last few days. Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier, my name is Elly Voluie, and I am the female elder of the council. My counterpart, Shane McDile, as well as the rest of the council will be here shortly. Now, would you care for some refreshments while we wait for the others?" Her voice is very soothing.

"Water would be good for me…" I say lolling my eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you." Bruce says as she looks at him.

"Of course," She smiles as she looks off to her left. "Milly?" She calls out. In a matter of seconds a shy looking woman in a maid's uniform comes around the corner of a door way to our left. She has short dirty blonde hair that has been pulled up into a bun, soft blue eyes and a soft featured face.

"Yes Ma'am?" Her voice is very high pitched and almost irritating.

"Would you be so kind as to bring us a pitcher of ice water and some glasses please?" Elly's voice is so soothing and patient I swear I'm going to fall asleep.

"Yes Ma'am." Milly says as she looks curiously at me, and then walks out of the room.

Bruce and I sit curled up against each other for a moment until Elly breaks the silence.

"Now, before the council arrives, I need to ask you something Laiss." She says leaning forward. I nod. "How much do you know about what you are, what we are, from your family?"

"All I know is that we are string walkers and that we can go to different worlds, parallel universes, and that we have powers, and that I'm a golden string walker who has unlimited abilities." My voice is weaker than I'd like it to be and I can feel the concern rolling off of Bruce.

"Ah, well that is a start. So you know nothing of our history?"

"Not exactly. I didn't have enough time to talk to my grandmother before I was taken here to Gotham." My eyes are getting heavier and I'm afraid I might pass out.

"I see. And you came here to Gotham because the Joker was after you correct?" She smiles slightly when she says that. I nod my head again trying to conserve my energy. "Do you know why he's after you?"

"I haven't the slightest clue to be honest with you. All I know is that I wished him through my mirror. I thought he was just…just…." I can't even think of the word.

"Imaginary?" She says smirking and cocking her head at an angle.. I nod sheepishly.

"That's perfectly understandable. You come from the other world, where things are more….rational, or sane. In this world, things are a little more, incredible. People like the Joker are common…well, obviously he isn't common, but in our world it's perfectly natural and considerably normal." Elly is speaking in such a matter of fact tone, like she speaks from an ageless textbook.

"I'm not sure I quite understand…" I shake my head trailing off.

Elly smiles widely. "Yes, it's all a bit hard to understand at first. As soon as the council arrives we will explain everything to you…." She stops speaking as Milly walks back in with a tray with our pitcher of water and ten glasses. She sets it down in front of us and then bows slightly. "Thank you Milly." Elly says to her and Milly leaves. "Please, help yourself to some water Laiss." She motions her hand to the tray in front of us.

"Thank you." I say leaning forward away from Bruce and pouring myself a glass. The water is unusually refreshing and clears my head a little when I drink it.

"Better?" She says watching me very intently.

"Much better..." I say half out of breath from gulping the water.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I can feel Bruce tense up slightly. Elly looks directly behind us and her eyes change slightly, becoming more regal. I set the glass down and turn to look and so does Bruce. I almost jump out of the seat when I see a crowd of people standing directly behind us in the entrance way. All of them are wearing robes exactly like Elly's. There are two more women, and three men standing there. They are all looking me over and its making me really nervous and uncomfortable.

"Hello Laiss." The man in front speaks. He has a deep voice, even deeper than Bruce's voice. His hair is black as night and cut much like Bruce's only a little longer down the neck. His eyes are as black as his hair and it reminds me some what of the Joker's dark shark like eyes. His features are very chiseled, and he has a rugged appearance. My head starts to buzz a little as they all come in and sit down silently surrounding us.

"Hello…" My voice is weak and growing weaker.

"I'm Shane McDile, male elder of the council. I see you already met Elly." He smiles at Elly and she smiles back warmly. "This is Rose,…" he says pointing to a woman with curly honey colored hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen with a soft round face, she smiles and nods at me. "...this is Edward,.." he says pointing to a small man with short brown hair, dark green eyes, and very sharp features, he smiles at me as well and nods at me. "…this is Paige,…" he says pointing to the last woman of the group. For some reason I get a strange sensation from her. She has light brown eyes, and light brown hair and very sunk in features. She doesn't smile at me, but nods. "…and this is Steven…" he says pointing to a very young looking man, probably not far off from my age. He has short very tightly curly auburn hair, with light green eyes almost like my own, and a very gentle looking face with extremely soft features. He smirks at me and winks, causing my stomach to flutter a little. I think Bruce noticed it because I feel a shift in his emotions and he moves slightly and puts his arm behind me on the back of the couch.

"Hello everyone…" I say quietly, trying not to show how utterly nervous I am with everyone eyeing me.

"Now," Shane says as he sits down. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you may ask any question you'd like. The purpose of this meeting is to see who your mo anam cara is, is that correct?"

"Well…yes….but there's so much more I want to know…"I hesitate but he motions me on as if to say continue. "First thing I want to know, is who is Ishia Cavetello? That woman in the portrait? Why does she have my mothers maiden name? Are we related somehow?" The questions are coming out faster than I can even think.

The council members all look at each other with various looks. "Ishia Cavetello is indeed related to you. She is your ancestor, the first golden string walker to ever walk our planet." Shane says pouring himself a glass of water.

"But if she was the first golden string walker in this world, how am I related to her if I'm from another world?" My head is starting to buzz again.

"A little history is in order. Many eons ago, there was a great ruler named Jerrard. Jerrard was married to a princess named Lily, an arranged marriage. Jerrard became Emperor and Lily became Empress of almost the entire world. There was around one quarter of the world that was still free from Jerrard and Lily's rule. There was a parliament that ruled along with them. Much like a president and a congress. Neither one had absolute power, or that was the way it was suppose to be." As he's speaking I'm getting images of all this in my head, and as alarming as it sounds, it isn't. "Lily was very fond of traveling, and would do so regularly. She loved to see the sights and find exciting gifts for her husband. On the border of the free world and the lands that Jerrard ruled was a small village. In this small village a girl had been born, a girl with extraordinary talent, intelligence, and abilities. This girl was Ishia Cavetello. She was born into a long line of string walkers, but somehow this girl was different. She far surpassed all the other string walkers. The council that existed even then realized that she was different and termed her the golden string walker. Ishia was very small, but very strong. She was sweet, loving, and gentle, but very much hard headed as any child is." He smirks at me as I roll my eyes. The rest of the council chuckle to themselves. "Ishia was told many, many times to NEVER play outside village limits. You see, the parliament was corrupted. They would steal innocent people from the free lands, erase their memories of where they came from, and then turn them into slaves and servants for the kingdom. Lily and Jerrard and the whole royal line, never knew of this treachery. Had they known, parliament would have been severely punished and most likely restructured or completely done away with as it was in later years. Ishia was a very playful child, and loved to play in the creeks, and meadows, and forests far beyond the borders of her land. She was very fast and very agile, and was always back before anyone knew she was missing. One day while out playing, picking flowers and berries in the forest beyond the limits of the free lands, Ishia was captured by soldiers of parliament. She was a young girl then, only thirteen years old. Thankfully, the soldiers didn't rape or hurt her in any way. Ishia, being unaware of her powers at the time, and underdeveloped in her abilities, was unable to stop them from kidnapping her. They took her to a slave trading post near the borders, and the shamans there proceeded to erase her memories. Ishia was put to work in the camp as a slave, and always put up on auctions for nobles to purchase. Her captors treated her very well, being that she was very beautiful. After just six short months, they started to realize how intelligent and strong and unique she was and knew she would fetch a far better price than all the others. One day, while Empress Lily was travelling through the camp, she spotted Ishia, running across in front of them and demanded that the head guard of the camp identify this young girl. He lied to her and told her that Ishia was an orphan, and had no parents. Lily marveled at how beautiful and unique Ishia was, and bought her immediately for an outrageous amount, much to the pleasure of the head guard. Lily thought that Ishia would make a fine personal servant to her husband, as Ishia was extremely beautiful and very gifted. Ishia and Lily talked very much on the way back to the palace, and the more they talked the more Lily grew to like Ishia. When Lily presented her husband with his gift, it was as if electricity was in the air. You could feel the current of something very powerful and very ancient. Everyone noticed it but no one said anything. This was the meeting of two soul mates, two people that were crafted for each other. Emperor Jerrard instantly fell in love with Ishia. Ishia didn't understand what she felt for the Emperor and couldn't understand why her heart hurt so badly upon seeing him. Jerrard looks much like what the Joker looks like, minus the scaring." Finally he stops to take a drink and I don't hesitate.

"Wait….I thought you said the Emperor was married? And what do you mean he looked like the Joker?" I've stiffened up. I think this means he's my soul mate.

"He was indeed married. But it was an arranged marriage. And while Jerrard did indeed love his wife out of loyalty, he did not love her with his heart or his soul. It was obligation, not love. They had two children together, Prince Jerrard II who was ten years old and Princess Lily II who was around six years old at the time Ishia was presented to Jerrard. And yes, Jerrard looked much like Jack Napier, or as you know him, the Joker. Lily was tall, and had dark auburn hair with dark brown eyes, and was much taller than little Ishia. Jerrard and Lily were in their early thirties at the time they acquired Ishia." He stops and takes another drink.

"Does this mean Jack Napier is her soul mate?" Bruce asks and I can hear the heartbreak in his voice.

"All in good time." He smiles at Bruce. "As I was saying, when they met each other, it was as if the earth and heavens stood still. These two were meant for each other, as it was written in the stars, long before either of them were born. It didn't matter to the fates that Jerrard was already married, Ishia was indeed his mo anam cara as Jerrard was hers. Age wasn't an issue to the fates either. Their souls had been destined for each other, even in lifetimes past." He stops and takes another drink and I can tell he's getting parched. "Because Lily loved Ishia so much, she was never suspicious that her husband was head over heels in love with Ishia. Ishia, being as young as she was, had no idea what emotion she was feeling for the Emperor. Ishia and the Emperor went everywhere together. Ishia prepared his bath, would fetch his food for him, would help him dress, would talk to him when he needed to talk. She was for lack of a better term at the time, his best friend. They use to take long walks together in the meadows and forests surrounding the palace. The children absolutely loved Ishia, as she was very close to their age, and would play with them for hours on end and teach them about wondrous things that she still remembered even after her memory had been erased. Over the years, Ishia and the Emperor fell even deeper in love than either thought possible. Ishia always kept her distance from Jerrard however, she knew he was married and there was nothing that could be done. Jerrard wanted nothing more than to hold Ishia in his arms, to kiss her, to be with her. He loved her dearly. On Ishia's sixteenth birthday, the Emperor could no longer stand being so close to her without having her as his own. He had a portrait painted of her to forever immortalize her. That's the portrait you see out there. He had her dressed as a royal, which while it was unusual for a royal to paint a portrait of their personal servant, especially dressed as if she was a princess. But no one thought anything of it. There was a giant celebration held for Ishia's birthday. Even Empress Lily showered her with gifts. But the most cherished gift she received was a ring from Jerrard. It was a ring with small hearts facing opposite each other, with Ishia's birthstone inside each little heart." He stops as he notices my face getting white.

"Oh…God…" is all I can manage. I look at Bruce who is looking at me with questioning eyes as he's glancing at my ring.

"Is everything alright?" Shane asks looking at us.

"Yes…yes please continue." I say taking a big drink of water. _That's how he knew….and that's why I dream of this ring. Oh this isn't good._ My head starts spinning slightly and I try to stay focused.

"On that day after the celebration, Empress Lily left for a three week travel. That night, Emperor Jerrard could no longer contain himself. He took Ishia on a walk into the forest near nightfall so that they could watch the fireflies dance in the field, something Ishia loved to do. When they got to their special spot and sat down, Emperor Jerrard confessed his love for her. Ishia burst into tears and ran from him, being fearful for many reasons. Fortunately for Ishia, she could run faster than Emperor Jerrard and managed to get away. Ishia wasn't about to go back to the palace, she had seen the look in Jerrard's eyes. It was the same way a man looks at a woman right before he makes love to her. She may have been a virgin but she wasn't dumb." This caused the council to chuckle as he took another drink of water. "The Emperor called out his entire army to find Ishia, and indeed, found her less than a day later hiding in the forest. She was brought back to the Emperor on the nightfall of the very next day. He had her bathed, and dressed, and he did the same. Ishia cried the entire time because she had seen Lily do this before the Emperor and her would make love. She was hoping that the Emperor was just going to talk with her. Ishia was placed into the Emperor's bed chambers and the doors were locked behind her. The Emperor came in, and again confessed his love for her, this time on his knees. He begged her not to run away ever again because if she did he would surely die. Ishia was an emotional wreck, and there was nothing she could do to stop this. Jerrard finally got close enough to her and took her into his arms, and kissed her. There is nothing so earth moving as two soul mates kissing for the very first time. Jerrard made love to her that night, and all the next day, and the next night. They laid in bed for days, and Jerrard actually would go and get their food that they needed. He drew her baths, he took care of her. Ishia had never felt so much love or passion in her entire life. For those weeks while Lily was gone, they were truly happy. Upon Lily's return, Jerrard told Ishia that their love would have to be kept secret from everyone. They would walk to their spot in the forest to watch the fireflies, and Jerrard would make love to Ishia for hours on end. Ishia always would go back to her bed chambers, heartbroken, sad, lonely, hurting, and angry. She didn't want to do this to Lily. Lily trusted her and loved her. She tried to reason with Jerrard but he wouldn't hear it. He said it was his right as Emperor to have this." He stopped to take another drink.

"Well how pigheaded…." I breathed out, crossing my arms.

Shane laughed out loud. "Yes, Jerrard was very pigheaded, and stubborn, and very much head strong. Ishia and him were the true definition of Ying and Yang. He was a cruel merciless bastard to all who knew him, all but his children, Lily, and Ishia. Jerrard had been called insane by many, but he was just extremely intelligent. Ishia however, was soft, quiet, caring, and warm. Jerrard took such delight in her delicate nature. It endeared her to him. She was such a fragile loving thing, he had to protect her and was gentle and kind to her, more so than he had ever been to Lily. One night however, during their love making, Lily happened to stumble across it. It was by pure chance, Lily had gone to find them to tell Jerrard urgent news of an uprising out in the West. When she saw her husband on top of Ishia, holding her gently, telling her how much he loved her, it nearly killed Lily. Lily indeed loved Jerrard, even if Jerrard didn't love her as he should. She screamed and scared them out of their skin. Lily called for a hearing. The next day, with parliament present, Jerrard was put on trial. It was against the law to have an affair of the heart on your spouse if you were ruler. You could have as many whores as you wanted, but if you loved another you would loose your throne. Jerrard was forced, in front of parliament, Lily, and Ishia, to say that he didn't love Ishia and she was nothing more than a common whore to him. Ishia almost turned to dust where she was standing. She couldn't believe he would say that about her. He had always told her that if it ever came down to it, he would choose her over Lily and his throne. She felt betrayed, and worse, ashamed. Ishia wasn't punished, but Lily's harsh looks and coldness were enough punishment. That night, Jerrard came to Ishia's bed chambers to plead for her forgiveness. All Ishia did, was take the ring off that he gave her and throw it at him and slam the door in his face. That night, Ishia ran away. Ishia was now eighteen years old and her powers had matured, and her memories had fully returned. She never did go back to try and find her family because Jerrard made her so happy. But that all changed. Ishia ran back to her village and found that it had been destroyed along with everyone in it. All that remain were graves. In Ishia's horrible frustration, somehow she transported herself to your world, and indeed managed to survive longer than the 6 month period for a golden string walker. She found others of her kind who explained things to her, and eventually married a string walker and had children. Ishia damned the fates for making Jerrard her soul mate, and the fates damned stubborn Ishia. For as long as we can remember, a golden string walkers soul mate always comes from another parallel universe. The combining of the two worlds is undetected by all, everything just overlaps and settles. It happens all the time in our world and in yours. Every one hundred generations, when golden string walker is born either in our world or yours, or in other worlds. We aren't quite sure exactly if it was Ishia's doing that caused a golden string walkers soul mate to come from another universe, or if that's the way it was. You see, Ishia's family had come from your world originally. Much is unknown of her family since they died before she could get any answers. Jerrard was heartbroken, and in his search for Ishia found out that she was a string walker, a golden string walker. He had a string walker who was said to be a bit on the lunatic side, create a mirror to try and create a portal straight to Ishia. The mirror was gigantic, and remained in our world. The other mirror, was later attached to a dresser and sent to Ishia's home. Jerrard was unable to get to Ishia, but he could see her, combing her hair, putting on clothes, having sex with her husband. It drove him utterly mad. The mirror remained in his family for generations as did the one Ishia owns. At one point, Jerrard's mirror was broken, and the piece was made into another smaller mirror. It wasn't as powerful as the original mirror. When Ishia's descendents realized it was a portal mirror, they sealed it so that no string walker would unknowingly open the portal to Jerrard or his descendents."

"My mirror…that must be my mirror on my dresser….and that must be the Jokers mirror….and yours…that's how he was able to see me all of my life…" I say looking at Bruce.

Shane smiles. "You catch on quickly. Yes the mirror you posses is that same portal mirror. You must have torn that seal wide open."

"Oh God…" I'm really dizzy now.

"Now, is there anything you wish to ask us?" Shane leans forward.

"You never did answer if the Joker was her soul mate or not." Bruce says with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I thought I made that rather clear…yes he is indeed her soul mate." Shane says.

"So that means I have to…" all of a sudden my stomach turns on itself and I have to stop talking so I don't vomit. I start shaking slightly and Bruce notices.

"Means you have to what?" Shane asks.

"She has to have sex with him?" Bruce says through his teeth, I can tell he's fuming.

Shane laughs as does the rest of the council. "No no…she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want. There are always….options." Shane says looking over at Elly.

"Options?" I say hopeful.

"Yes," Elly starts to speak. ", you can do what's called a soul mate exchange…considering its been eons since your two souls have been together. The fates might just allow it. You would of course have to have someone willing to take the Joker's place as your soul mate, because you see everyone has a soul mate. The Joker would just be appointed a new one by the fates."

Paige speaks for the first time and her voice is very melancholy. "That is just a myth. A legend. It's never been done and I doubt it can be." Her eyes are so cold when she's looking at me.

"It is not just a myth. It is possible. It's extremely difficult and both parties have to be willing to let the other go. Why anyone would want to switch soul mates is beyond me, your soul mate is your perfect match." Elly is giving Paige a look that speaks volumes of Paige's incompetence.

"Wait….both people have to be willing to change soul mates? What if…he doesn't want to? And I thought soul mates couldn't be changed? And what do you mean I need someone to take his place?" My hope is starting to diminish.

"It doesn't have to be both parties willing," Shane speaks again raising his hand up causing everyone else to pay attention. ", she can make a plea with the fates considering the circumstances. And yes, only the fates can change your soul mate for you. And yes, you'd need someone to consent to being your soul mate."

"But I don't know anyone that will…" I start to talk and then Bruce clears his throat beside me. _Oh you have GOT to be kidding me._

"I'd be willing to do that…" Bruce says softly as I look over at him. My face immediately flushes red at the thought and he smirks at me and winks. _Dear God what have I gotten myself into here??? _I lay my head in my hands for a minute and then look up when Paige starts speaking.

"They won't consent to that. You know that. They never have." Paige's voice is getting darker and I don't like it, its making me nervous.

"I think we should let the fates decide that Paige." Shane shoots her an almost violent look as he's speaking slowly to her. Paige just scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"There are a few more questions I have…." My voice is growing weaker, and Shane motions me on as if to say go ahead.

"The Joker has been able to…talk to me…telepathically…through a string walker. Is that possible? Also is it possible for him to say, get into where I was even if he didn't exactly know where I was to leave objects?" I say trying not to sound obvious to Bruce.

"Oh yes that's indeed possible. Your telepathy is beyond compare, as are all your other abilities. You are just starting to mature into them, they will peak on your eighteenth birthday and then be fully peeked for the rest of your life. And yes, he could very well use a string walkers teleporting abilities to send objects to where ever you were." Shane's eyes keep tracking to Bruce's as he's talking and when I turn to look at Bruce, I can tell he knows something is indeed going on that I didn't tell him.

"Why is it every time I close my eyes I have strange dreams of him? Some of him attacking me…some of him on top of me…some that I don't even recognize. They feel so real…." I say trying to push the memories of the dreams down.

"Well the dreams could be visions of your past as Ishia, mixed with present circumstances, and part of your future mixed in. A golden string walkers dreams are known to be premonitions of the future, as well as past lives he or she has led. The appearance of your soul mate most likely caused this dreaming correct?" I nod my head. "Then I would venture to say that they are visions of not only your past as Ishia, but your future. I would heed them wisely if I were you." Shane says as he cocks his head slightly sideways to emphasis that point. My stomach starts churning again. Some of those dreams were…intense. "Oh, and I would be especially careful of your natural ability to attract the opposite sex to you. A golden string walker has an almost hypnotic ability on the opposite sex, whether it be her soul mate or not." _Well that would explain why men chase after me all the time._

"Ok…the Joker said…that he knew about my imaginary friends? What was he talking about? I don't remember that at all…" I say trailing off trying to recall anything from childhood.

Shane laughs softly. "Oh yes, a golden string walker is indeed powerful. We were aware of you pulling a dragon out into your world and letting it loose. It was eventually sent back where it came from and everyone's memory was slightly adjusted to cover the entire ordeal up. You've done some other marvelous little things like that over your childhood, but Beverly always covered them up." Shane's eyes are dancing as he's telling me this.

"You mean my grandmother?" I'm shocked.

"Yes, your grandmother and I have been in contact for many years. She is part of the council in her world. We aren't the only council in our world either, there are small chapters spread throughout the world. We happen to be the high council. Your grandmother is part of one of the smaller chapters. She is an elder. She did tell you this, right?" Shane puts his hand up as if to say well?

"No…I didn't know any of this…" My head is starting to get dizzier than before.

"That's a shame that they kept if from you this long. I suppose it was for the best." Shane says as he leans back in his chair.

"Wait…if you've been in contact for many years, why didn't you see this coming? I mean me pulling the Joker through the mirror and all that? Why didn't you warn my family?" Now I'm getting a bit irritated.

"We would of, had we known for sure that he was indeed your soul mate. We weren't sure who the descendent of Jerrard was, or even if his soul would come back into a descendent of Jerrard. It just so happened that both of your souls ended up being in each others respective descendents. We had a theory, but since Jerrard is not a string walker, nor is the Joker, he was unable to track. We were suspicious when Jack Napier, or the Joker, broke in to our archives many years ago after learning about our kind. There are many legends that come along with string walkers, especially golden ones. A golden string walker can become a powerful and deadly weapon in the wrong hands or under the wrong guidance. And a soul mate's pull is greater than any common sense or moral compass. The Joker is indeed your soul mate, and he can indeed turn you into a weapon. And there are those in our world and yours that would just love for that to happen." Shane's voice is lower and more serious now.

"Do you think that's why he's after me?" I can't barely talk.

"We are pretty sure those are his intentions. If he does gain control over you that way, there will be no stopping him and his rein of chaos. You would be his personal juggernaut." Elly speaks now, her eyes more serious.

"Don't I have a say in any of this??" My voice takes on a higher pitch, and they can tell I'm getting frustrated.

Shane sighs. "I know this is hard, with you being so young and all. But there are forces at work here beyond human free will. We can attempt a soul mate exchange without his consent. It might not succeed, and it could kill you in the process."

"Wonderful." I sink back into my seat and run my hand over my face. "So you're telling me there's no hope?"

"I'm not saying there is no hope, just very little." Shane's eyes have taken on and understanding look.

"This…is just too much…" my head is getting dizzy again and my stomach is starting to churn. "I think…I think I'm going to be sick…" I say slightly sitting up. Bruce takes my arm. "I need to go to the bathroom…" I say looking at Shane.

"It's out that door and to the right." Shane points towards the left of the room where Milly came from.

As I stand up, so does Bruce. "No, I can do this myself." I say pushing his hands away.

"Are you sure?" Bruce says as I wobbly walk to the left side of the room. I just nod my head and he sits back down.

As I walk out of the room, the world starts spinning. I have to hold the wall for a second to stop myself from falling. _This can't all be possible. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Who made up these damn rules anyways? I mean to hell with this, damn the fates. Damn the Joker. Damn Bruce. Damn all of this stupidity. I will loose my virginity when I'm damn well good and ready not when some dumb ass old crusty fate said its time. The hell I have to choose between just two people in the world. Or worlds. Oh this is some cluster fuck! _I'm getting intensely angry, and even more scared that before. As I'm walking down the hallway I spot Milly who gives me a curious look.

"Bathroom?" I peep out.

"This way miss." Milly leads me right to it.

"Thank you." I try to smile but I'm really not in the mood. Milly just walks away and nods as if to say your welcome.

Walking inside the bathroom, I see what I hoped would be in here. There's a window in here. A window that I can easily crawl out of. There is also a nice porcelain sink, a tub, a shower, and a toilet. The room seems to have multi-colored flowers as its theme, they are even crawling up the walls in the expensive looking wallpaper. Even the shaggy looking carpet is flowery looking. I go to the bathroom and then as I'm washing my hands I look in the mirror. _God I look like death…_I splash some water on my face a few times and then reach over to the flowered paper towel roll sitting on the side of the sink. _Just as soon as my stomach stops churning…_I say eyeballing the window planning my escape.

Then a thought hits me. _Shit. I wonder if Bruce will be able to find me. Or the Joker. _I shudder. _I have to learn how to hide my energy…somehow…I'm a golden string walker there has to be a way. _Then a thought hits me. I remember back to my childhood when I played hide and seek with my grandma and she always taught me that to hide from anyone, to make yourself as still as possible, as quiet as possible, don't even let your mind make too much noise. Pretend you are…invisible. Watch your energy around your body die down to nothing. _That's why she taught me that. She was teaching me to hide my energy!_ The smile that creeps out on my face is a wild one, as I start inspecting this window. It looks easy enough its just a regular old window that has two panes, with a lock in the center, with the ripple type glass in it so you can't see in or out but it lets light in. I slowly turn the window until it unlocks and then slowly push it up. It makes a light shuddering noise causing me to draw a sharp breath in. My heart is going a million miles an hour, and when I get the window up all the way, I notice that there's a screen in the window. _Damn._ I peek up inside the window and realize its just one of those easy latch screens, and reach up and unhook it and pull it through the window trying to make as little noise as possible. _Hurry up Laiss…_I know I've been in here forever, and I know soon Bruce or one of the council members will come looking for me. I set the screen on the floor, and then walk over and slowly lock the bathroom door so my escape isn't foiled before its started. Peeking out the window I notice that this window faces the back lawns, and I'm praying that no one sees me crawling out a window. That would be a bit hard to explain what I was doing. I stop to listen for any noise, and then slowly crawl out the window. Lucky for me this window was ground level. I manage to slip out the window undetected. When my feet hit the ground I instinctively check my back pocket for my cell phone. _Damn that's right Bruce still has it. Not that it would do me any good here. _I'm not sure exactly which way to run. I flatten my back against the cold stone building for a moment to catch my breath and then slowly make my way around the side of the building. Tip toeing around the edge of the building, I see the front driveway and the parking lot, and the glorious sunshine from the front of the building. I sneak around the edge of the building taking care not to step in the flowers along the edge. When I come around the edge of the building I peek out first and can see Bruce's Lamborghini parked in front of the building about 30 feet away. My heart is thumping erratically as I walk out into the daylight. Looking behind me every feet steps and walking faster, I notice that someone is indeed looking at me out of the very top floor. I think that's Milly. _Shit. Shit….shit shit shit…._ Fear overtakes me and I bolt down the front drive way and then stop when I realize the gate is closed. _Oh shit. _Spinning around from side to side, I notice a tree right near the stone wall that has some pretty low lying branches. I'm up the tree in a matter of seconds and over that stone wall. The drop was about 15 feet down and it takes me a minute to stop aching from the shock that shot up my legs into my hips and spine. _Oh I hope I didn't crack anything…_Then I hear what I swear is Bruce calling my name. That lights a fire under me and I click my wheely shoes down and just start rolling away from the building towards the main road. I have no clue where I'm going, but I sure gotta get there and fast.

* * *

"Begging your pardon council members and Mister Wayne…." Milly is huffing and puffing as she comes running into the room. They all turn to look at her and Bruce jumps up, tense. "But Miss Laiss….she's gone….I saw her running down the front lawn and scale the stone wall and I ran as fast as I could down here to tell you." Milly's voice is shaking now, she's obviously very upset. Before she can finish every starts rushing past her.

"DAMN it…" Bruce yells as he's running for the front of the house.

"Bruce, did you want us to go search for her too?" Elly says catching up to him.

"Yes, you head north out of town and I will head into to town to see if I can find her." Bruce says running out the front door and jumping into his car and screeching off.

"She can't of gotten very far." Elly says to Shane as they are standing on the front porch.

Shane lifts his robe off over his head, and is wearing gray dress pants, a white button down dress shirt, and light gray dress shoes. "No, there's no way she could of made it very far. You take the van, and take the girls, I will take the truck and take the boys. We will do a wide sweep across the outskirts of town." Elly nods as she starts pulling her robe off and runs back through the building.

In no time at all, I'm on the main street in Gotham. It's loud, and busy. It reminds me of the trip my family took to New York City, and all the ballet's and events we attended there. _I should find a building to get into, Bruce will be looking for me by now._ I look around and see a giant white marble library set up in between two buildings with two lions perched on either side and a line of bushes. I cross the street and when I look to my left I see Bruce's Lamborghini zipping around the corner and stopping behind another vehicle. _SHIT!_ I wheel faster then when I hit the sidewalk I push the wheels back in my shoes and run up the front of the library steps. Just in the nick of time I dive behind the bushes in front of the library steps as I see Bruce rolling up to the front of the library. _Make yourself invisible. Clear your mind. He won't find you._ Slowly, I can feel the energy around me dying down to nothing. _So this is how you hide you energy from nosey people…_I smirk as I continue to conceal myself. I peek out from the bushes and notice Bruce has gotten out of his vehicle and is walking up towards the library. _Shit shit don't panic Laiss….calm….he can't see you….you're invisible…_He walks towards the bushes with the energy detector hidden in his hand near his side and is looking down at it. My heart is about to explode from beating so fast, but I'm managing to keep my energy level down. He walks around the side of the bushes to the front of the library right as I scoot around the front of them. I peek back over just in time to see him walking into the library. No one has seemed to notice me hiding here and that's a good thing. I'm not sure whether I should try to run or just stay hidden here until he leaves, when I hear someone coming around the side of the bushes.

"Are you alright miss?" An old man with a cap on his head and gloves on and garden sheers comes around the side of the bush and scares me half to death. I have to stop a scream in my throat. "Sorry miss, didn't mean to startle ya, but I saw you hiding from Bruce Wayne there and was wonderin." _Ugh does everyone in this town know who he is??_

"Y-yes…I'm fine…just don't let anyone know you saw me, ok? Not a word!" I say pleading with him in my tiniest voice.

"You're secrets safe with me miss." He tips his hat to me and walks away.

Letting out a rush of air and grounding myself, I decide to peek up over the bushes. Within a few minutes, Bruce comes out of the library looking rather upset, and I can't help but smirk. _Fat lot of good those fancy gadgets do you, huh batsey?_ My thoughts disturb me, I'm starting to sound like the Joker! I creep around the back of the bushes and watch him walk down the sidewalk and out to his car and take off. I let out a giant rush of air, and set on my rear end for a minute, just holding my chest trying to calm down. _Well that was intense!_

* * *

"She did _what??" _The Jokers voice hisses at the woman in front of him.

"She was at the council house and slipped out the bathroom window and ran from everyone." The same raven haired woman is speaking to him.

"Morgan…are you telling me….that Laiss Wyatt managed to uh slip away from batsey…and an entire high council of string walkers…in a high council house?" The Jokers face is twisted into a wicked smile. He has his traditional make up and outfit on and is twirling a knife in his hand. Morgan just nods with her eye brows raised. "Hehehehe oh oh ha ha ha HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!" the Joker bursts into a fit of maniacal laughter causing Morgan to shudder slightly. "And now…she's out running around somewhere in Gotham…" his eyes snap down to the knife and he lifts it up and points it at Morgan and his eyes start dancing as his tongue flicks out and runs along the corners of his mouth. "…alone?" he says very slowly as he looks from the knife to Morgan, and she just nods. "And you're positive, you couldn't see who batsey really was?" he says motioning the knife around like it's a baton. Morgan just nods very slowly, keeping her eye on the knife and his body language. She doesn't want to end up with yet another scar from the Joker. He slowly turns and smacks his lips and looks up for a minute. "ANTHONY!!!" The Jokers deep mighty yell causes Morgan to shake, and within seconds a tall, tan muscular man with black wavy hair and copper colored eyes steps through the door.

"Yes boss?" His voice is as rough as he looks when he speaks.

"It's time to go have some fun in town." The Joker throws his arms out and tips his head back slightly and gives Anthony that crazy look. Morgan has to move out of the way to avoid being stabbed in the face.

"Oh yeah….I thought you'd never ask!" Anthony says grinning.

"Who was asking??" The Joker drops his arms, narrows his eyes and points the knife at Anthony. Anthony nervously runs his hand through his hair and shrugs. "Go get the others. This will be a fantastic night out in Gotham." Anthony nods and slightly smiles, and walks out.

"Care to come along for the fun Morgan?" Joker turns to her and points the knife at her again, smacking his lips.

"Do I have a choice?" She folds her arms across her chest and rolls her eyes.

This causes the Joker to burst into a fit of giggles. "You catch on quick!!" He says grabbing her by the arm and walking out of his bedroom.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­


	10. A dog chasing cars

Ok here's the deal. No I didn't get abducted by aliens, or get killed, or anything like that. I just lost my will to write for a very very very very VERY long time. I have no idea what happened…I just totally lost my mojo or my muse LOL. And I am so so so SOOOOOOOoooOOOO sorry to all of you who have read this story and loved it. You have no idea how sorry I am…I feel really REALLY bad. I hate it when I'm reading a story and the author just up and disappears. I know life happens, but it still sucks.

I am up to Chapter 17 right now, I know AHHHH OMG POST THEM POST THEM!!! But, they aren't quite finished yet…I'm still somewhat in writer's block mode. I didn't realize I had so many fans, and fans that are actually asking for this story to be finished. I have no faith in my ability as an author apparently hehehehe. I'm trying not to draw it out, but I always find ending a story is the hardest part….especially when you really don't want the story to end. I want to try to give this story 30 chapters, but I'm not making any promises or anything. It might go over or under depending on which ending I decide on.

Alright enough of my rambling….on with the story!!!

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Walmart....or anything else in this story except Laiss....she's mine :D

* * *

_Alright, where am I gonna get some food around this town?_ Bruce had given me a wad of money at one point during my stay, in case I ever needed it. _Boy I bet he's regretting that one now!_ I smirk to myself as I look over the wad of cash that I had hidden in my bra. It pays to have a multi-billionaire slip you some cash, especially when its $2,000. I stuff the cash back in its hiding spot along with my license, and smirk.

I look towards the street and start walking. I stop and people are walking by on both sides of the street and there is traffic going through at a pretty steady and rapid pace. I see a sign down the road a short way to my left that reads 'Gotham Regal Hotel'. _Well how convenient! I_ _wonder if its all that expensive_. While I'm standing there absent mindedly thinking, something causes my head to jerk to the right. About five cars back from where I am standing, is a dark gray blue car that looks exactly like Bruce's causing me to panic. My heart almost stops in my chest and I have all I can do to keep from passing out again. _I've never passed out and fainted and been so weak in all my life!!!_ I don't know if I should run or not, so I just stand there. To my relief, when the car does go by, its just some frizzy headed blonde woman in a business suit driving by.

I finally find my legs again and venture across the road in between traffic and make my way towards the hotel. Some people stare at me as I walk by, but most just ignore me and that's a huge relief. When I make my way into the red brick building that's the hotel, I notice how expensive the place looks and get a little nervous about the price. But to my delight, the man that is taking my reservation is under my charm, and he gives me a nice discount. Instead of paying $200 a night, he knocks it down to $100 for me after I flirt with him a little. He doesn't even ask me for ID, which is a relief. It would be a bit hard to explain my license, since its from another world. I hate taking advantage of people this way, its making me feel ashamed for what I'm doing. But considering my current circumstances, I think its understandable and slightly justified.

After I get my room, which is thankfully on the ground floor, I ask him about local restaurants and businesses. Luckily, there are good restaurants close by, and one in the hotel. There is a shopping plaza down the road about a quarter of a mile, one that I saw briefly earlier driving to the council with Bruce. I noticed the Wal-Mart name on the sign and almost flipped my lid. I didn't know this world had the same businesses mine does. That's something I've come to notice about my world and this one, a lot of the things are the same. Maybe that's why the over lapping of the two worlds wouldn't be so noticeable to everyone.

I make my way to my room first to get settled in a little, and the room is more than I had hoped for. There's a king sized bed, a T.V with cable, extra pillows and blankets, a generous supply of toiletries, really luxurious fluffy towels and a nice monogrammed terry cloth robe in the large whirlpool tub bathroom. There is also a small washer and dryer inside the room which is great. I leave the room and make my way to the restaurant that's in the hotel. After I eat some lunch, I decide to head back to my hotel room and brush my teeth. After I do this I head out to the Wal-Mart that's down the road for some shopping.

While I'm walking, I keep a sharp eye out for Bruce or the Joker. I've managed to keep my energy off the radar for this long, and I'm not exactly sure how long that will last. I don't even know what will happen when I fall asleep. By all rights, I should be terrified out of my mind. I'm alone in the city of Gotham, which up until a few days ago, I thought was imaginary. And Gotham is a pretty big city. The fact that the Joker is lurking somewhere and that Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, is out there searching for me makes me shiver a little. I'm not scared at all-I'm excited. This is exhilarating, and wild. Everything is still surreal to me here.

I get to the Wal-mart without incident. I shop around and pick up things I know that I will need: some shampoo, conditioner, a hair brush and comb set, some scrunchies, powder, deodorant, floss, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a razor, face wash, a long baggy shirt to use as a night shirt, khaki shorts, a nice pink tank top, a package of panties, some socks and a small bottle of laundry detergent and a small box of dryer sheets. I end up spending under $100 which is great. I don't plan on being in this town long, tomorrow I will find a way home even if it kills me. I walk back to the hotel, but this time I'm more arrogant and don't even bother looking around for the Joker or Bruce. When I get back to the hotel room and latch the door I start laughing and doing a happy little dance. Looking over at the clock I notice its three in the afternoon. I decide to strip down wash the clothes I'm wearing in with the new ones so I have some nice clean clothes for later. While they are washing I watch some TV. Strangely enough, the station names are all the same in my world. The people that are on the stations even look similar to the ones in my world, so similar that they even have the same names. Maybe this is what Shane meant when he said things overlap all the time and its unnoticeable to everyone. A thought hits me just then, while I'm laying here naked across the bed. The things are the same as in my world. The people, the stations, the places. Things that were currently going on in my world, are currently going on here all around the globe. The only thing that isn't anywhere on here is any mention of the new summer blockbuster movie, The Dark Knight. Its as if…it doesn't exist here. Well it exists, just not as a movie. As real life. This makes me wonder, is my life just a movie in someone else's world? Is someone watching me right now, on a screen somewhere? My head starts to spin a little and I realize after a little while that the washer stopped, so I go over and throw everything into the dryer. I glance over at the clock and its now four, almost

dinner time. I decide to go take a nice long, hot shower while all my clothes are drying. After I'm out and dried off and in my robe, I go flop down on the bed and glace at the time again. 5:00 p.m. I let out a deep sigh. _Everything is so boring now._ I click on the TV one more time to check the local news station out. Walking over to the dryer to pull out some clean clothes, I hear a this just in late breaking news segment starting. I'm half-heartedly listening as I'm rummaging through the warm clothes, I hear some male reporter say 'The Joker', which causes a lump to collect in my throat. I walk back out from the bathroom and look at the TV. What I see next floors me. There are flaming piles of rock, burning paper, people crying and screaming.

'…Again, the Joker strikes at Murray Bank, taking every last cent, and blowing up the building before anyone could get out alive. There are said to have been at least forty employees and an unknown number of customers inside the bank at the time the explosion happened. There were no survivors. We are urging residents in Gotham to please stay in their homes and off the streets. The Joker was last spotted heading out of town…'

I can't take anymore and shut it off. _Why? Why would you kill people so heartlessly? _Looking down at the ring I'm wearing, I have all I can do not to burst into tears. _I'm in love with a maniac. A maniac who can't possibly love me back. _I decide its best not to think on it, and just get dressed and go eat some dinner. I decide to wear my new shorts and new tank top to the restaurant. After I'm done eating a big dinner, I head back to my hotel room. By now the sun is hanging low in the sky, causing everything to take on a reddish glow. Being bored out of my mind is never a good thing for me. I decide to visit the front desk again and ask what there is to do in this town. I'm told that I really should stay in my hotel room to be safe with the Joker running around. But working my charms on the guy working here again, I manage to find out there is a movie theater down the road a short way and around the corner. That would be the movie theater I saw going to the council. Its even on the same road, just a short way up from it. I decide that's probably not the best place to go. I also am told that there is a roller rink up the road about a mile or so. There is also a high end night club that's right across the road from the roller rink.

Heading out of the hotel, I decide the roller rink sounds like fun and head that way. The evening air is heavy, but cool as it blows across my skin. The lights of Gotham city are starting to slowly click on one by one. Electric and neon signs flashing here and there, street lights humming above me, headlights of passing cars. It's hard to believe this is another world. Lost in thought for a long while, I come up on the roller rink faster than I had anticipated. Across the street, the nightclub still looks closed, but the hotel clerk was right, it is a high end night club. There are velvet lined ropes out front of the building, and the windows are completely blacked out. The sign above the club isn't lit yet, and the letters scrolled out in flowing old English script spell, 'Renaissance'. Just ahead of me I see a dimly lit neon sign that says 'Roller-Rama' and I head into the building. It's darker than I would of liked inside, and the air is musty and thick. I can smell hotdogs and pizza cooking, and I can hear a popcorn machine popping. It's very open inside with very little walls blocking the view of any one single area. Off to my left, there is a counter and behind it are racks filled with rental roller skates. A man behind the counter looks up at me and his expression perks up when he looks at me. His skin is very dark, and he has extremely sunk in eyes. Must be from all the late nights working at the roller rink. Over to the right, there is a brightly lit concession stand, with a woman standing behind it setting out the condiment packets into their respective bins. She looks up but doesn't pay particular attention to me, just flashes a quick little smile. Out in front of me there is the skate floor, surrounded by black four feet guard rails with three bars stretching the entire length of the floor. There are darkened dug out areas at either end of the skate floors, with black benches inside that are barely visible from where I'm standing. The walls and floor are all painted black, with bright neon colors speckled randomly all over. _Typical roller rink._ I walk over to the counter where the man is, and he smiles brightly at me.

"Evening. Anything I can help you with sugar?" His voice is husky, as he looks eagerly at me.

"Uh, yes…do you have a size five skate in ladies please?" I say sweetly and try to smile.

"Why I sure do, stay right here now don't go no where I'll be right back with them stakes." He says winking at me and turning around.

Suddenly I hear a noise from behind me and I look over to my left, and see some people coming in. Just some teenage boys that are obviously brave enough to come out with the Joker running around. I turn back around and jump a little when I hear the skates clunk down in front of me.

"That'll be $3 for the rentals sugar." He says smiling at me.

Reaching into my pocket, I take out the money and flip thru my bills and hand him three ones and thank him as I walk away to go put my skates on. Looking down at my ring I sigh. _This should keep me busy for a little while and keep my mind off….well….yeah'_ I make my way around the corner of the rental counter area, and realize that there are numerous black plastic lawn tables and chairs around the corner, as well as around the corner of the concession stand. Finding a place close to the skate floor, I pull a chair out and sit down and take my sneakers off. I frown as I look down at my sneakers and then look up. Directly in front of me, and on the left wall of the rental desk are little lockers with orange keys in them. Putting on my skates and lacing them up, I slowly roll over to the lockers, grab a quarter from my pocket and insert the quarter and the key pops out and I lock my shoes inside. I roll my way back out and onto the skate floor. As I'm making my way around the floor, I notice the boys that came in are all leering at me. I roll my eyes and just continue to skate. The music that comes on makes me jump a little and almost fall, and I look over to the back of the lockers and the man that was at the rental counter is giving me a thumbs up indicating he's turned on the music for me. My jaw almost drops as I realize they have the same music in my world as they do here. It's so mind blowing and fascinating how similar our worlds are, and how much is the same in them. The song playing happens to be Sandstorm by Darude, a very popular skating song in my roller rink at home. I pick up the pace a little and notice that one of the boys that came in has actually gotten brave enough to come out on the floor. He has shaggy brownish hair, a lot of acne, and is wearing a pair of carpenter jeans and a black and white stripped hoodie with a black t-shirt underneath. As I whip around past him, he calls out to me.

"Hey! Hey you!" His voice is almost as shaggy as his hair. Out of politeness, I stop.

"Yes?" I try to be as friendly as I can.

"You new here?"

"Well, yes. But I won't be here very long."

"Want to skate with me?" His facial expressions and voice, along with his giggling buddies in the background couldn't make him any more obvious than he already was.

"Sure." I say, trying not to sound too annoyed.

His eyes light up and I hear mutters of 'score' from his sniggering friends. "Cool." He says as he starts to skate towards me. I move slowly around the rink with him as he talks over the music.

"So what's your name?"

"Serenity" I didn't want to give this kid my real first name, and technically Serenity is part of my name so I'm not really lying. "What's your name?"

"Matt. How long are you gonna be in town?"

"Hopefully only until tomorrow…"

"Oh really? That's too bad. I would of liked to get to know you better." I ignore his obvious attempt at flirting and look around the roller rink.

By this time, more people had filed into the door. Must be people here are use to the Joker running around on a killing spree. Some were looking out at us, some were over ordering food and the concession stand lady was running around filling orders, some were renting skates and some had begun to lace up their skates and were eagerly looking out at the skate floor.

"So…Serenity. How old are you?" He asks as we come to a stop near the entrance to the skate floor.

"Seventeen. And you?" I ask as I walk over to the concession stand with him following me like a lost puppy.

"I'm seventeen too. Are you thirsty?" He says eyeing the concession stand.

"Yes, I'm going to get a soda. Would you like one?" Just then, one of my favorite skating songs comes on, Caramel Dansen, and I immediately get all excited and forget to mask my energy. "Oh! I love this song!" I chirp out and Matt smiles at me.

"Yeah I'm thirsty too, and don't worry its my treat." He says pulling a twenty out of his pocket.

"Well thank you Matt." I say smiling at him. I'm starting to get happy, a little too happy. A little too energetic. "May I help you?" The lady behind the counter asks and I turn to her.

"I'll have a small Sprite…" I say as I look at Matt.

"And I'll have a large Coke." He says.

"One Sprite and one Coke coming right up. That'll be three dollars." She says as she turns to get cups from beside the soda machine. I'm standing there bobbing my head to the music and listening to the soft whooshing sound of the soda machine.

We get out sodas and Matt pays the lady and gets his change. Then we go over to a table that doesn't have anyone sitting at and I take a big drink out of my soda and then slowly roll over to the rental counter. I don't even notice that everyone in the place is staring at me.

"Excuse me." I say to the man behind the counter.

"Yes Miss?" he turns from taking inventory and looks at me.

"Could you please play that song you just played again? I really love it and I missed it out on the floor because I was getting a soda." I work my charm on him and he smiles and winks as he goes into the back to repeat the song. When he comes out I thank him and go straight for the floor and give Matt the come on look. He follows me out on the floor, and this is when I really get everyone's attention. I start skating backwards, sideways, and doing little flips and kicks. Back in my world, the roller rink was almost like a second home to me. My grandfather actually got me into roller-skating, rollerblading, and into ice skating to keep my coordination up for boxing and kickboxing. Not to mention it was just plain fun. As I'm twirling around the skate floor, I'm not even paying attention that everyone in the place is crowded around the guard rails watching me with awe. I don't even bother trying to hide my energy, it has totally slipped my mind. For just one moment, I'm free. Going around the rink with my hair flying around behind me, tipping my head back and watching the lights flash.

Matt gets up next to me as I slow down and stop showing off, and this is when I notice everyone staring. Then they all break out cheering and clapping and my face gets beat red.

"You're really good!" Matt smiles at me as he nods towards the crowd.

"Nah, I'm ok." We both laugh at my modesty. The crowd that had cheered me on quickly disperses and Matt and I are left to skate slowly around the skate floor. A few people have decided to join us out there, and we smile as we go past them.

Matt and I skate for a little while longer, and get to know each other a little better while skating. I found out that he's going to be a senior this year in high school just like I am, and that he's a skateboarder and hoping to go pro. When I look at the time and realize its near ten at night, I decide its time for me to head back to the hotel. Finding a way home and avoiding Batman and the Joker both will require a decent nights sleep-that's even if I will be able to fall asleep. I decide to hit the bathroom, and brush my hair out since its all dry now.

"Well Matt, I really enjoyed meeting you, but I really need to get back to my hotel room." I say skating slowly over towards my locker where my shoes are.

Matt has skated up behind me and gets a very curious look on his face. "You're staying in a hotel alone?"

My face drops slightly when I realize I just told a teenage boy who is with a gaggle of his friends, that I'm staying in a hotel…alone. The last thing I need is a bunch of teenage boys after me too. "Uh, well yes...I…" words fail me as he gets a huge grin. Taking my skates off and putting my shoes back on, I can feel his eyes on me.

"Would if be alright if me and my friends come over to visit?" The look in his eyes tells me my stupid charm over men is cranking full force.

"I really don't think that would such a good idea…I'm leaving in the morning and I need a good nights sleep." I finish putting on my shoes, pick up my skates and walk to the rental counter.

"Awww c'mon Serenity, we can buy a pizza and some stuff to snack on…and we could watch a movie or two…" Matt is standing off to my right side, and I'm trying not to look at him. The man behind the rental counter takes my skates and thanks me, I walk away from the counter out into the middle of the open area and turn to face Matt.

"Look Matt, you're a nice guy and everything…but I really don't think that's such a good idea…" I stop because Matt is now looking over my shoulder in contorted horror, and my spine prickles. He starts slowly backing away from me and my stomach seizes up. I can hear my heart beat thundering in my ears. There could be only one thing behind me that would cause everyone to scream almost in sync, and start running out any exit or hiding anywhere they can. Matt stops moving, obviously frozen in fear.

I smell it before it even gets around the left side of my head. Everything starts moving in slow motion, as if time itself is afraid of what is happening. Slowly and carefully, I see a hand gun barrel come around the side of my head, pointing straight at Matt. I can feel the immense heat radiating from him, and I start to shake. I can't even move or scream I'm so scared. The gun is still moving out around my head, pointing straight, held by a gloved hand. Slowly, the purple coat that covers his arm comes into view. His front is now merely millimeters from being pressed into my back, and I can hear him breathing above my head. His other arm gently slides up over my other arm and lays across my chest causing me to sharply inhale as he protectively wraps his arm around me. He is slightly leaned over, and his breath is tickling my ear. The gun is steady and pointed right at Matt.

When he finally speaks, I let out a soft almost inaudible yelp. "Hitting on my girl Matt?" His voice is rougher than normal, like an animal snarling.

"Wha- your-I-…." Matt stutters out, and I swear I see tears in his eyes.

The gun shot in my ears jerks my entire body straight up and my head gently bounces off his chest. The Jokers arm tightens slightly around me. Matt falls in slow motion, dead to the floor. I can see a small stream of blood coming from his chest as he lays on his face, twitching. The fact that he just killed a teenage boy that had his whole life ahead of him, sends me into shock. I stand there, mouth open, totally immobilized. When I feel him shift behind me slightly, this is when I finally snap out of my stupor. I leap forwards, spin around and avoid his grasping hands. I manage to get about five feet in front of him, looking dead on at him. His eyes are dark, sinister. He slowly smacks his lips, obviously just waiting to pounce on me.

"You promised you wouldn't…" I breath out captivated by his presence.

"I only promised I wouldn't hurt _you._" He smirks at me, with the gun draped by his side.

"You just killed someone who had their whole life ahead of them…how could you?" I stand there shaking my head.

He gets a strange look on his face, and cocks his head to the side. "I'm the Joker…what did you expect?"

"You heartless son of a bitch…" my anger and shock obviously please him as he flashes me a toothy grin. When he takes a step towards me and goes to reach for me I jerk back. "Stay away from me…"

"No no I can't do that." He says pursing his lips, looking upwards and then directly back at me. _Oh boy…he must of taken an extra dose of insane pills tonight._ He goes to grab me again I avoid him and slide back away from him. "Are we uh, going have to do this the _hard_ way?" He drops his face every so slightly when he says this, glaring at me.

When I try to move back a step he starts ghosting towards me, and I start moving faster praying I don't trip over anything. He snarls at me and takes a dive at me and this is when I shriek and run for the exit doors on the skate floor. I can feel him right on my heels as I burst thru the doors to the alley way. I spin my head around looking for the street, and I can see it to my left straight ahead. Running around front I see something small, metallic and green go whizzing by my head along with a noise behind me that sounded like a burst of air. I look across the street, and in a sandwich board in front of the club, there is a small dart sticking out of it. _Oh my god…he has a fucking tranquillizer gun! _When I burst out running into the street, I can see a black van in front of the roller rink with two men in the front. Another dart goes whizzing by me and actually catches part of my hair. I shriek as I scramble left running down the road like a maniac. I'm trying not to scream at the top of my lungs so I don't draw attention to myself. Well anymore attention to me than there already is considering I'm running full speed down the middle of the road, zigzagging every which way to avoid being hit by darts sailing by me. I hear a vehicle screech out from behind me and I turn to look over my shoulder. The black van has started after me, and I'm pretty sure I know who's in that van. People are watching me run by, and cars are honking at me as I'm running thru them. There isn't much traffic at this hour of night, most of the people have gone home to hide from…well what's behind me. I can hear the van accelerating and gaining on me in my feeble attempt to outrun it. I can see the hotel in the distance, and wonder if I can make it there in time.

"Fuck…this….fuck…this….with…a stick….side…ways!!!" I breath out heavily as I'm running at full speed trying to find somewhere to hide.

While I'm running, I'm hit with something right in the back of the neck. My legs are still pumping when I reach up to my neck to see what hit me. To my horror, there's a dart sticking out of the back of my neck. I rip it out and throw it, and I can feel a little blood spill down from the wound. I stop running because I can feel my whole body starting to go limp as the drugs work their way thru me. I start walking, rubbing the back of my neck. _Please just let me get to the hotel. Please…oh God no please…_I can no longer stand and I start slowly sinking down to my knees. It's extremely hard to keep conscious, the world is starting to fade. _Get up….no Laiss….get up…_I try to stand and can only crawl slowly along the ground. It seems the more I move, the faster the drugs work. All at once I'm bathed in bright lights. Headlights. I hear a vehicle slow down and stop. A door opens. Footsteps. _No…get up Laiss….run.._ I can't crawl anymore. My eyes won't stay open. I flip over on my back and look up. The buildings are waving, the sky is like a black swirling void. The footsteps stop right near me, near the right side of my head. I try to open my eyes but they just flutter and fall closed. My entire body is no longer responding to my commands. I'm laying flat on the ground sprawled out. _No!! No this can't be happening…_I want to cry but my eyes don't even well with tears.

I hear a tsk'ing noise over me. All at once I feel hands under me trying to lift me. _GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!! _I hear a strange grunting noise coming from him. I manage to flutter my eyes open slightly and realize he's being pushed back by some invisible force. _What the hell??_

"You do realize she's preventing you from touching her." I hear a woman's voice coming from the left side of my head.

I try to look at her, but all I can see under the blinding headlights is a silhouette of a woman with long dark hair, dressed in a long dress or a robe I can't tell which. I feel a sharp stinging pain in my thigh and hear that loud burst of air. I've been shot again with that tranquillizer dart. I feel another sharp pain as he pulls out the dart. My mind starts to fall into darkness now, slowly swirling down. I feel the Joker lift me up and cradle me into his arms. My head comes to rest against his chest, and the last thing I hear is the beating of his heart, and him saying "Pretty little Laiss…"


	11. The Joker's house

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers I hope you all had a good day.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stuff listed in this chapter.

Sighs….I really don't know that I like this chapter all that much….but read and review and let me know what you all think

I jolt up out of my unconscious state. Everything is blinding shock white. I'm unable to move. I'm not even sure what day it is, or if its day or night. _How long have I been out? Damn I sure have to pee. _I blink my eyes a few times until they partially come into focus. I'm on a hospital bed, in a small room. There isn't much in the room, save for a trash can, a medical tray, the bed, the light and me. The light over me is so bright it makes my eyes sting. I notice I have an IV in my right arm, and worse, I'm completely strapped down to the bed. I try kicking my legs and the bed rocks slightly but there is no way I can get loose. My arms are tightly bound to the bed as well and I even have a strap around my neck. All my clothes are still on but my shoes are off. I realize I still have my ring on and sigh a little, I was afraid I might have lost it.

"Hello?" I call out, my voice is rough and dry. "IS ANYONE THERE!!!!" I scream out at the top of my lungs. Just then the door near my feet comes flying open. A tall woman comes thru the door, dressed in a long black robe. Her eyes are piercing and deep black. "Who…who're you?" I say to her when she's walking towards me.

"My name is Morgan. And how are we feeling?" It's the same woman that was there when I was laying on the ground. Her voice is sarcastic and she really could care less how I feel. She briefly checks my IV and then walks around behind my head. I hear a drawer open and a few bottles clinking.

"Where…where am I? What's going on?" I say trying to stretch my neck around to look at her.

She comes back around into my line of view and she's filling a needle with something out of a bottle.

"You're at the Joker's house…" She smirks as she says it as if its some inside joke. "And I'm giving you something to…keep you calm." She says taking the needle out of the bottle and squeezing some of the eerie black liquid out.

"No…please don't…I have to go to the bathroom…please let me go to the bathroom…" I whimper out as she walks over to my right arm and unhooks the IV tube to give me the shot.

"Quiet or I'll shove this needle in a place you won't like." She snaps at me as she places the needled into the tube.

"STOP IT!!! PLEASE STOP IT!!! YOU'RE HURTING ME!!!"I start screaming and thrashing making it impossible for her to get the needle in.

"Hold STILL you little BITCH!!" She's snarling at me and trying to hold me still, digging her nails into me and trying to slap my face.

"_What_ did you just call her?" The Joker's sinister voice comes floating in from the pitch black hallway.

Morgan immediately lets me go and drops the needle and bottle on the floor. "She won't let me give her the drugs…you told me to come down here the second she woke up and give her a shot. I can't get her to…" She's obviously frightened.

He cuts her off. "SHUT UP!" His yell is deep, like a growl and makes both Morgan and I jerk. "If I _EVER _catch you manhandling heragain," He slowly steps in giving Morgan a look that I pray he never gives me. His eyes are like froze black ice, his face is contorted into a sneer. "I'll gut you _slowly_, skin you, and hang it from my walls."

"I'm…sorry…" Morgan stutters as she tries to get away from him. He quickly raises his hand and she shrinks down, but he just points behind him.

"Get out of here _NOW_." He snarls at her barring his teeth.

She doesn't hesitate and bolts by him to prevent him from changing his mind. His eyes slowly track down to me and his eyes soften only slightly. Then he looks at the floor, rolls his eyes and bends over to pick up the needle. "Can't rely on anyone these days…gotta do everything yourself…don't we…" He breaths out as he picks the needle and bottle up and forcefully throws it into the garbage. I flinch when he walks around my head and I hear that same drawer open up and the clinking bottles. He comes back around with a filled needle and takes my right arm up in his massive gloved hand.

"Wait…" I squeak out and he snaps his eyes up to mine. "I…I have to go to the bathroom…and I'm really thirsty and hungry…please let me up…I swear I won't run or do anything."

I'm trying to work my charms on him but for some reason its failing. Or it seems to be. He sighs and smacks his lips loudly. "I uh have to give you this first…I will let you up right after this settles into your system." He gently sticks the needle into the IV tube and squeezes the medicine in. I let out a soft shriek as the medicine tears and burns its way thru my veins, writing around in agony as he's watching me.

"It…it hurts!...It burns!!" I call out trying not to scream.

"Shh shh shh." He says reaching up and brushing my hair out of my face. "It will only hurt for a few seconds."

The pain stops after a few seconds, and I stop writhing. My head starts spinning a little, and everything takes on a fuzzy glow. I feel all warm and tired. I don't even think I could walk if I tried now. "What…what was that…" I drawl out.

"Oh just a special little uh mixture…to keep you from hurting anyone or trying to escape." His hand is slowly caressing the top of my head.

"I…I have to eat…I have…hypoglycemia…I really have to pee…please…" I'm starting to slur my words.

"I know…" He says staring at me.

He's obviously distracted by something. His eyes snap back into focus and he starts releasing me from my straps. I can hear him humming a little tune as he works and I close my eyes. The last strap he takes off is the one over my neck. For a moment there is silence, then I feel him slide his arm under my back and gently lift me up. I push on him and open my eyes and slide off the bed. When my legs hit the ground my knees buckle.

"Whoa, easy." He breaths out as he slips his strong arm under my right arm and around my back.

He lifts me straight up and I wobble right into him and look straight up at him. My hands instinctively come up to rest on his chest, and his instinctively wrap around me. It catches him by surprise that I'm looking up into his face without a trace of fear. He cocks his head to the side and looks down at my left hand and smirks. I don't even jump when he reaches up to run his finger across the ring that he gave me. He looks back to my face and smiles dropping his hand back around me, but not his normal insane smile. A genuine proud smile. We stand there for what seems like an eternity just looking at each other. You'd think it'd be awkward, but it isn't. Not even in the slightest. His eyes are so prismatic. Every so often brilliant green and blue sparks dance across them as if there's electricity flow behind them. If you look at them closely they are deep, dark, rich chocolate brown-not black. Usually people with eyes this dark are emotionally unreadable, but within his extremely expressive eyes every tiny emotional change is visible. His lips are full, warm and soft looking. The scars on the sides of his face actually make his mouth look more sensual than it already is if that's even possible. His face is truly beautiful in all sense of the word. For a fleeting moment, I can see the man that lies beneath the makeup. I can tell he's studying my face as well. I could of stayed like this forever, but my eyes flitter and almost shut and he moves me to the side of him. He takes a step forward and my legs follow.

We walk out into the hallway and I try to look around to see where I am. A long hallway is spread out in front of me with numerous metal doors on either side. Each of them have a small double plated glass window in it. The hallway is dark, made of smooth cut white stones and the air is thick and musty. There are hanging fluorescent lights from the ceiling which is also made of stone. Only two of the ten that line this hallway are lit. He leads me down until we come to the giant metal door at the other end of the hallway and opens it. The cooler air rushes in hitting me in the face. It leads to a upwards flight of very dark stairs. _I must have been in the basement._ I slowly try to push myself up the stairs wobbling all the way. We finally reach the top of the stairs and there is another giant metal door, but this one has a keypad lit up on the right side. He reaches up and puts in a code. His fingers move to fast for me to catch the numbers. The door clicks, and he pushes it open to complete darkness. I'm not even sure how he can see thru it. The air change is dramatic, I can tell this area is air conditioned. I can also smell a faint bleach smell as if this area was just cleaned. He pushes on forward and I cling tighter to him because I haven't a clue where we are or where we are going.

We stop and he opens a door in front of us. A mixture of daylight and artificial light comes streaming in causing my eyes to sting again. When we step thru the door, I gasp. Laid out before me is what looks like a grand ballroom. The ceilings must be thirty feet high at the least. The walls are decorated with ornate fixtures of angels and cherubs. The floor and walls are made out of smooth white marble. Giant windows line the walls every few feet on the right side of the room, and there are giant crimson red drapes cascading down the sides of them spilling on to the floor. Strangely enough, there is no furniture of any kind. For some reason, I really don't want to walk into this room. When his feet step forward I hesitate pulling on him slightly.

"No…" I mumble out as he yanks on me.

When I refuse to move again, he quickly bends down and catches me up behind my knees, knocks me flat into his arms and curls me into him. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself as close as I can to him and bury my head sideways into him. For the rest of the trip thru the castle, I keep my eyes closed. Mostly because I'm heavily drugged making it extremely hard to concentrate or even stay conscious.

I let out a soft moan when he finally sets me down. He keeps his hands on me only for a moment and then steps back. My eyes come open slowly, and I almost let out a shriek. I'm in his cool, dark bedroom again. I notice that there are windows in here, but they are covered up by heavy royal purple drapes.

"Where…where are we?" I slur out.

"In my bedroom…" he whispers from behind me.

"Why…"

"Because this is where I put all your things from your hotel room. And I have my own uh private bathroom." He walks around the front of me, and my heart skips a few beats.

"How did you know that I was in a hotel or where I was? And you live in this grand castle, why can't I have my own room?" I slur out blinking trying to make sense of all this.

"Oh it was easy to track you once you let your uh guard down in that roller rink…and besides…" He flutters his eyes and sniffs. "Your scent is unmistakable." He partially growls that last part which makes my stomach flutter slightly.

"But…why can't I have my own room?" I protest.

His eyes darken slightly, and he takes a deliberate step towards me. "So I can keep a close eye on you…" that crazy Joker voice is out in full force. His eyes snap back away from me and he motions with his hand towards a doorway near the bed. "The bathroom is right there…go uh do what you need to do….I will be waiting here when you get out." He says flopping up onto his bed, throwing his arms behind his head and sprawling out.

"Aren't you afraid I might escape out a window?" I say taking a step towards the bathroom.

He smirks and closes his eyes. "With the shot I gave you…I uh highly doubt you'll try that." He's right, it seems the faster I move the closer to passing out I get.

I keep a close watch on him as I tip toe by the bed so he doesn't spring up and jump on me. I walk into the bathroom and quickly close the door gently behind me and turn around. Laid out in front of me, is an enormous bathroom. Way bigger than the one I had in Wayne Manor. The entire bathroom is shock white and made from marble. The shower is off to my right behind a wall that has the top portion made from frosted glass, and the bottom is made from the same marble that runs thru the entire room. There is a huge drain hole in the middle of the shower area. The toilet is almost hidden in the back corner of the room, right near the front of the shower wall. The sink is directly in front of me, with a giant mirror resting above it on the wall. Round lights line the mirror, and there is a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There are counters lining the walls near the sink, and are littered with various bottles, tubes and jars. Over to my left behind the door is a giant marble Jacuzzi, with a large faucet near the front of it. There is a closet directly in front of the Jacuzzi, and I slowly walk over to open it. Inside there are towels of various colors, and more bottles and jars. I pull out a light pink towel and walk over to the shower and peek in. There's a window that runs along inside the shower, allowing light to spill in everywhere. There is recessed shelf that runs along under the window, and its filled with bath products. My eyebrows come together and I walk in to the shower area. I bend down and closely inspect the bottles. _John Fredia Brilliant Blonde Moisturizing Shampoo and conditioner….well how in the hell…and there's a purple poof in here with a tag still on it…and Caress evenly gorgeous exfoliating bar soap….and a Shick Quatro ladies razor…_I'm mouthing the words to myself, as I'm staring at them in disbelief.

I hear someone softly clear their throat behind me and I jerk to the side, not quite able to jump like I normally do. The beating of my heart causes me to wobble a little and I see stars. The Joker is standing in the doorway to the shower smirking. I don't even dare ask how he knew what type of soap and other stuff I use.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking? What if I was naked in here?" I can feel my eyes flittering against my will.

His face explodes into a giant toothy grin, and his eyes shimmer. My face gets beat red as I realize that's what he was aiming for, the pervert. He shakes his eyebrows at me and winks.

"Um…can I take a shower now?" I slur out putting a hand on my hip.

"I don't know….can you?" He slowly licks his lips at me. I raise my eyebrows up at him as if to say uh hello get out of here so I can. He waves his hand in the air and closes his eyes for a second smacking his lips. "Well don't let me stop you…go right ahead." He lowers his head and gives me that look. I throw my head to the side and purse my lips at him and he chokes back a fit of giggles. "Alright alright…I'm going." He turns around to leave then peeks his head back around the wall at me.

"Do you mind?" My feisty nature is showing thru even in my drugged state. My words only cause him to giggly wildly and walk out of the bathroom and close the door behind me. I roll my eyes. _Oh great….now I have to worry about him peeking in here at me the whole time._

The shower goes off without incident. When I shut the water off, I cautiously peek around the wall to make sure he isn't standing there waiting. Satisfied that he isn't waiting to spring out at me, I walk out slowly and grab my towel from the sink counter. I dry myself off and begin drying my hair. When I try to rustle the towel thru my hair, my head spins. _Now I'm understanding why he gave me that shot…the faster I move and the more my blood pumps the weaker I get. So if I try to run or fight….I'll pass out I bet. Wonderful. _

Upon closer inspection of the items on the sink counters, I notice that he has the same powder and deodorant that I use. I put that on and wrap my towel back around me. I see that there is a toothbrush that looks exactly like mine at home in its package, and the same toothpaste I use sitting out. I brush my teeth and then look around and spot a yellow comb. I reach down, pick it up and begin combing out my hair. I happen to look down and notice there are tubes of white makeup, and a tub of black cream, and a tube of red lipstick. I have all I can do to choke back the giggles. _He wears lipstick…_When I'm done combing my hair, I walk over to the door biting my lip. _I'm only in a towel here…he's out there…_My mind starts racing and I get dizzy and weak. The shot must work for too much emotional distress as well. The shot made me all dopey, tired and weak, and the more I move the worse it becomes.

My heart is pounding when I finally work up the courage to turn the knob and open the door. The door swings inward towards me so he could very easily be standing right outside the door and scare the life out of me. The room ahead of me is dark, foreboding. I shakily walk out into it, and to my relief he's just sprawled out on the bed. I can't see if he's awake, and the door to the room is a crack open. When my heart skidders faster at the fleeting thought of running wildly down the hall, I almost loose my legs and have to hold the wall so I don't fall. _Oh you're such a sneaky bastard._ When my eyes come back into focus, I look over to the bed and he has rolled slightly to look at me. He's smiling at me, knowing full well why I look so pale, flushed and ready to loose consciousness.

"Now you know why I wasn't worried about you uh trying to escape…" His arrogant attitude is going to land him a fat lip.

"Go to hell…" I whisper out trying to clear the stars that are still sparking in my eyes.

"We're a feisty little thing aren't we?" He says slipping off the bed to his feet. The smile is easy to hear in his voice even though my eyes aren't in focus. When I hear him walking towards me I move away from the wall and start backing up. My eyes are getting dimmer, and its starting to frighten me. He finally steps in front of me seemingly out of no where and I immediately fall into a defensive crouch with both fists up and ready. "Wooo gonna hit me?" his taunting is really starting to irritate me. "You know…you look so cute when you're uh all wet…" he takes a step towards me and I jump back. When I do, I wobble and start to fall but quickly recover. "I'd uh take it easy if I were you…" he says stepping towards me.

"Get….get away from me…" I say putting my left hand out as if to stop him. I can barely make out his face thru this drugged haze. When he doesn't comply and takes another step forward, I try to do what I did laying on the ground when he had shot me with a tranquilizer dart. I feel the energy surge but unfortunately so does the drugs that are in my system, and I gasp and everything goes black. I come to seconds later and I'm in his arms and he's looking down at me. I can't even open my mouth to scream I'm so shocked that he actually caught me.

"I told you to uh take it easy…" he whispers at me. "If you stay very calm, that won't happen." He says lifting me back up and setting me down.

"Where are my clothes…" I say slowly making my way over to the bed trying to stay out of his reach.

"There are some of your things from the hotel over uh there," He points to an enormous open door on the other side of the room, which I assume is a closet. "And I also have an entire uh wardrobe in there for you…" I don't even notice he's snuck up behind me. "that I picked out myself…" his voice in my ear makes me jerk and my head spin. I scurry a few steps away from him and turn around to face him. He has this strange look on his face, and a hauntingly familiar devilish smile. My memory flashes to him in a black tuxedo, with his hair fluffed out around his face, smiling at me….slowly taking his clothes off. I shake my head to try and clear it.

_I love you so much…you're so fuckin beautiful….I want to take you right here and now…I need to…I've been so patient…I waited for you…_

"What did you just say?" I blink my eyes confused and am quite flustered. I can see the internal struggle in his eyes.

His face is equally confused. "I didn't say anything…" he says smacking his lips.

"But I…I could of swore…" I look down at the floor. My eyes jerk back up when he steps directly in front of me and I gasp unable to move. His eyes are piercing.

"What did you hear?" he whispers looking back and forth into my eyes, as if trying to read my thoughts.

"I…I don't really know…" I stutter.

He slowly runs his tongue along his lips. "I think you need another dose before we eat…" He whispers raising both his eyebrows at me.

"But I just had one…" The conversation we are having is a rouse for what is really being said between us. He knows I heard his thoughts, he knows that I know that he knows I heard them. "I'm going to get dressed…" I say pointing over my shoulder and feebly attempting to smile at him. I've never smiled at him before and it causes him to snap his body slightly in surprise.

I turn from him and start walking towards the closet. I'm trying to ignore his burning gaze in my back, and his confused racing thoughts. The closet is pitch black, and I'm running my hand along the walls trying to find a switch. From my right side I hear a click, then the room I'm in is bathed in light from above. I jump when I realize the Joker had come up behind me that quietly clicking the light on. His eyes are wild, crazy. I really have no idea what's causing him to act like this. _Does he really need a reason…he's the Joker remember._ My internal joke to myself makes my mouth curl up slightly, and I bite my lip trying to chase the smile away. There is nothing funny about this situation right now. I'm standing in a closet, naked, wearing nothing but a towel, with the Joker standing less than three feet in front of me gawking at me, he probably has more knives on him than the Culinary Institute of America does, _and a few bombs…maybe a gun or two…_This makes my mouth curl more until my face creases up into a smile and I'm biting my cheeks to try and get it to go away, but its not working. Me and my sick sense of humor….no wonder I love him so much…we have the same twisted sense of what's funny. In a way that draws me closer to him.

"Did I miss a joke?" he says to me blinking his eyes, confused.

"Um…no…" I say trying to not laugh at him. I have no idea why everything is so funny right now. Maybe it's the drugs.

"Then what is so uh funny?" He says dropping his head to look at me. _Ut oh…serious face. _Now my eyes start watering because I'm trying to choke back wild laughter. "Well?" his voice is getting louder. _Ut oh daddy is starting to yell_. I have to muffle back a laugh at that one.

"Nothing…are you the only one that can laugh for no good reason?" I say looking at him still trying to choke back the giggles and the tears in my eyes.

He gives me this look and rolls his eyes and walks out of the closet and mutters 'women' under his breath. I turn around away from him and try to compose myself. Rolling my eyes up I look around at the closet for the first time. I'm taken by surprise at the size of it. It goes on for what seems like a mile. There are more clothes in here than I've ever seen in my entire life. I slowly walk thru them, running my hand down them. Most of them are men's clothes, but I finally find that one half of this closet is woman's clothing. This must be the clothes he was talking about. There is also a walk in area to the right, with drawers all along the bottom portion, and three mirrors that lay on top of the drawers so that you can get a view of yourself from all angles. I turn the lights on and open the top left drawer and I almost shriek. Inside, are girls underwear. In every color, every style, every fabric. All by Victoria's Secret. I close it and open the second drawer under it, and it's the same thing. The first two rows of drawers are filled with girls underwear. The second and third row makes me blush badly. All bra's, my size too, in every fabric and color as well. The fourth and fifth row are socks and nylons. I have never seen so many types of socks and nylons in my life. Regular old white ones, pink ones, blue ones, fuzzy ones, hunting socks, you name it, it was in here. When I open the top drawer of the sixth row I actually do let out a loud shriek quickly slamming it shut. I see movement out of the corner of my eye in the mirror and my head snaps up and when I see him standing there I whip around staring wildly at him.

"You…you can't be serious…" I finally manage after a few seconds of silence.

His toothy grin tells me he's indeed serious. I swallow hard, and a shudder goes down my back. "But…" He just shakes his head yes slowly at me and shakes his eyebrows. _Oh God… _"I'm…no…I can't…"

"Only for me…I uh don't want anyone seeing you in those….I'd have to pluck some eyeballs out." His tone indicates he would too.

In that drawer, are packages of edible underwear, bras, garter belts, and other various edible clothing. I don't even want to open the three drawers under it for fear of what might be in there waiting for me. _Kinky bastard._ He giggles and walks back out of the closet area leaving me to get dressed. I reach in and grab out a pair of pink cotton panties, matching pink bra, and then grab some white socks. I quickly slip them on and throw the towel back around me_._ I walk out and run my hand down the clothes. I settle on a pair of dark jean shorts and a white tank top that has a giant butterfly across the chest and is intricately decorated with little gemstones. I go back to the mirrors and check myself out, deciding I look ok. When I come out of the closet and click the light off, he's no where to be seen. I make my way into the bathroom again, and reach down to get into the pocket of my other pants to get my little brush to shove in my pocket. I walk back out into the bedroom with my dirty clothes pile in my hands. I still don't see him. The door to the room is open a crack still and I'm eyeing it slowly. _If I move slow, and don't get excited….maybe…just maybe…_I slowly walk towards the open door. I peer out of it, and can see that there is a giant hallway spread out in front of me. The walls are cream colored and the floors are a deep cherry wood color, with a thick purple runner carpet down the entire length of the hallway. I inhale sharply, my mind starts racing. I back away from the sight, it stirred up something in my memory. Or is this a vision of the future? My heart starts racing. My body tingles.

'_I love you Laiss…I'll always be here for you….I will never leave you…I will never cheat on you….I will never break your heart…I'm your Jack….forever…'_

I don't even notice that there are tears are streaking down my face. Or that he has slipped up inches behind me. I can still hear his voice echoing…I can see flashes of a wedding… of flying in the clouds…of us walking on a beach….of us rolling around in the sand kissing…of his eyes filled with tears as he's down on his knees kissing my belly holding me around the waist…of a three year old girl with wild blond curly hair, bright green eyes, looking up at me saying 'mommy look at the kitty!!!' with a smile on her face that could light up the entire world…_like her father…_I start convulsing at this last vision…my knees buckle…and I feel two strong arms catch me as I'm falling in seeming slow motion. I feel my head tip all the way back and my hair spill out around me.

"Laiss??" The Jokers voice is so far away. My legs are going numb. My entire body is going numb. "Laiss!!!" He's screaming now, a million miles away from where I am.

"I love you…Jack…" I whisper out as the life drains out of my body. I don't feel the tear that hits my face, followed by another. Or the heavy breathing as he curls me into him, silently trying to control his sobbing.

"MORGAN!!!!!" He yells at the top of his lungs, and I don't even stir. I'm peacefully at rest, walking along in the valley of the shadow of death.


	12. Good LORD you're sexy!

Yes I know…this story is taking FOREVER to finish. I have an extremely hectic life and to make matters worse, at the current time I am using a _really_ old monitor that I can barely see anything on while waiting to get my monitor in that was SUPPOSE to be in 3 weeks ago. Anyways, I know you guys are probably mad at me for being one of those authors that doesn't update often, and I'm _really_ sorry. Believe me I know, I hate that when an author doesn't update in forever. Next time I do a story, I'm going to complete it first before I start posting that way I can just post a chapter a week without having to write anything weekly. I want to get this story done because I have a really awesome idea for a new story and I want to get working on it. I'm going to finish this story up hopefully by the end of March, and since there is a lull in work for me right now that won't be too hard at all. I have already stared writing bits and pieces of the new one. I'm one of those authors that has to write bits and pieces from an idea I get that I turn into a rough outline, and then weave them all in together as I go or the story turns out completely terrible. I didn't do that with this story and I do believe that's why this is taking so long.

So anyways, on with the story and stay tuned because this story is going to start zipping by.

* * *

Everything is so warm. So comfortable. I'm so happy here. So full of peace.

"Laiss…" I hear a voice I haven't heard in almost two years. My eyes flutter open. I see sunlight. Slowly the noises of seagulls fill my ears, and the sound of waves. I can feel the sand under my back and in my hands. I sit up and look around, feeling the soft ocean breeze blow on my face. The brilliant orange sun is sleepily hanging low over the water. I know this place..._Sylvan Beach…_ "Laiss…" I look behind me. My grandfather is standing there smiling at me. His green eyes glittering, dressed in his typical yellow dress shirt and khaki colored dress pants. His brown hair that never seemed to move, is in the same style that it always was. Parted over to the side, and completely flawless.

"Grandpa?" I say putting my eyebrows together.

"Hello sweetheart." he says walking towards me.

"Where…where am I?" I say standing up looking at him.

"You're safe. But...you need to go back. It isn't your time yet." He says looking out across the water.

"Go…back?" I'm confused.

"Come with me, I will lead you back." He says holding his hand out to me. I don't question him any more. I am just happy to see him again, and this place is so peaceful. I don't even remember where I was before this. He takes my hand and we walk away from the water. Ahead of me there are no roads, no cars- nothing. Just blinding bright light. We walk into it hand and hand, and in a flash I'm in darkness again. I start feeling a slow throb in my head and I can feel arms around me. I can smell that familiar smell that I love so much. Muffled voices. And now a stinging pain in my arm that draws me closer to reality. My eyes move behind my eyelids and I hear a rush of relief from the Joker who is holding me.

"She'll be just fine. Her power links to her life and vise versa. A strong emotion can strangle the life right out of her. Her emotional state isn't all that stable right now as it is. I told you, you need to make sure you give her that every hour on the hour or she'll end up on the floor. If that wears off while she's here…well just think of what happened the other day. She also needs to eat her blood sugar is really low right now, and that can damage her brain." I hear Morgan's voice and curl closer to the Joker. I hear her scoff when I do and slightly smile. I think she's jealous. Hmmmm.

"I know that moron." He snarls up at her. I feel him tip his head down to me. "Laiss?" his voice is soft, and I can feel his breath on my face. He gently moves me around a little, as if to shake me but very carefully. "Laiss, wake up." His voice is almost pleading.

I flitter my eyes open and look up into his eyes, and I can see the relief wash over him. "What…what happened?" my voice is small.

"You died." Morgan's cold tone earns her a nasty look from the Joker. My shocked look must be priceless as I tip my head to look at her. "More or less. I had to run in and save you." I can tell she's less than happy about that. She has a black medical bag in her hands and is just pulling off rubber gloves. "You just _had_ to pick the most…fragile golden string walker didn't you?" She mutters at the Joker.

"There were…others?" I say quietly.

Morgan scoffs. "What you think you're the only special one? There are _hundreds_ of other golden string walkers in _hundreds _of other world's but he had to pick _you_ and believe me the others were way more beautiful and had much more to offer than _you..._"

"That's enough Morgan." The Joker snarls at her again and she walks out.

"There were others?" I say looking up at him.

He rolls his eyes, lifts me up and sets me down. "Not as far as I'm concerned and that's all that uh matters."

"But…if there were others why did you choose me? Why am I even here?"

He sighs loudly and rolls his eyes at me. "Because…because…" he's actually lost for words….or doesn't want to tell me. "Because…" he slowly licks his lips and smiles at me. "You were the only one that would fit in those edible panties I picked out." He shakes his eyebrows at me. My jaw drops when he says that, I can feel my face flush violently. I immediately throw my arms over my chest and cast my gaze down. _I don't believe he just said that! _When he takes a step towards me I jerk into the large door closing it. He has me right up against the wall now. Slowly he puts his arms out around my head. I just stand there looking up into his eyes. When he speaks it makes me jump. "You should get something to eat, your blood sugar is critically low."

"Yes, I know." I whisper out.

He reluctantly moves up and away from me. I turn around, open the door and stare out at it. My mind flashes again with strange visions but I push them back down. I walk out into the hallway and it's exactly like the one from my visions and dreams. He walks around me and I follow him. We walk down the hallway and I peek into some of the open doors. Most of them have their drapes drawn so its hard to see, but they look mostly like bedrooms. When we reach the end of the hallway it breaks off into a grand dinning hall, with kitchen doors that swing both ways on the left side of the room. There are windows that set high up near the ceiling, and a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the room. _I wonder which way to that creepy basement place they had me in when I first woke up._ There is a giant cherry wood rectangle table with matching chairs in the center of the room, and surrounding the room are smaller round tables and chairs made of the same wood. The silverware and flatware has been set out, and there are vases of white roses setting on each round table.

"What would you like to uh eat?" He halfway turns to me.

"Um, I'll eat pretty much anything…" I see him smirk and walk into the kitchen.

When I hear a yell from the kitchen area it makes me jump a little, but I'm starting to get use to the yelling around here. I walk over to one of the smaller tables in the back of the room and sit down. I look around and notice there are a few doors leading off the dinning room. I cautiously peek towards the kitchen. I can hear noises in the kitchen but nothing out of the ordinary for kitchen noises. I slowly rise from my chair and walk over to the closest door to where I'm sitting. To my surprise its unlocked. I open it slowly with my heart starting to pound. I peek inside the door. It looks like another hallway, and I can hear people moving around just out of eyesight. I can see light coming from the end of the hallway, and I bet there's a window low to the ground. I turn around over my shoulder to check to see if he's back and then slip thru the doorway and close it slowly and gently behind me. Tiptoeing to the end of it, there is indeed a window on the left side of the room. Over to the right, there is a small area filled with mops, brooms, and cleaning supplies. I can also see another open door, and I can tell this is where the basement must be. I move closer to the open window and stop when I see two women outside walking around. I look over the back yard and it's a huge, rolling green yard with a large gazebo off in the distance. I think I can see a lake from here, and I'm pretty sure there is a boat sailing by on the horizon. When two women dressed in the same robes that Morgan wears get near the window I crouch back and listen.

"Have you seen that new girl Laiss yet?" Her hair is up to her shoulders, and light brown.

"No not yet. But I heard she's absolutely beautiful." The second woman speaks. Her hair is longer, and is brown with blonde streaks.

"Oh I know. And Morgan isn't all that happy about it either." They both giggle at that.

"Do you think….it will be like she says it will be once the girl is tamed and properly trained?"

"I hope so, or we are all in seriously big trouble."

"Yeah. Morgan told me she will submit very quickly and Joker will be able to use her with ease. It will be a good day to be on the Joker's team then. She said she was really young and _really_ stupid. Apparently she actually thinks the Joker loves her." They both start laughing.

"Yeah just like he "loved" Morgan and the rest of us right?"

"Yeah." The are still laughing.

"We better get in there before Morgan finds us. She'll be totally mad at us if we don't get everything ready for tonight."

"I know! Hey did you want to like go out to a movie tonight? I mean after we are done." They are still talking as they walk off to the right.

The window lays open before me, and so does my freedom. But I don't move. I'm here, and like a fool, have slide down the wall sobbing. _I knew he didn't love me…I knew I was nothing but a joke to him…I have to get out of here….I have to get back to Bruce. I will do that soul mate exchange. I will sneak out of here tonight….somehow….someway….I will…I can't believe I actually thought for even a second that he loved me….I bet he gave all his women one of these rings…_I lift my head up from being cradled in my arms and knees and look at my ring. This only causes more pain and I curl back up, sobbing.

"Laiss?" His voice in front of me makes me scramble to my feet and wipe my eyes. "What are you doing in here?" I can tell he's angry, but at this point I could care less.

"I was just looking for a bathroom…" I say trying not to look at him and keep my eyes on the floor.

"It's this way…" he says and I don't even look at him, I just walk back out into the dinning room. "That way." I look at him and he's pointing to the farthest door in the front corner of the room.

I use the bathroom and then come back out and see that he's seated himself at the head of the long rectangular table in the middle of the room. He turns and motions for me to sit right next to him. I swallow a lump that's starting to collect in my throat and try not to burst out crying. _I wonder how many other female string walkers he's deluded. How many he's lied to…how many he's….had sex with…_I can't even look at him when I sit down. I just sit there silently staring at my palms trying to stay calm so I don't pass out. My stomach is churning and it feels as if I'm going to vomit any second.

His voice scares me and makes me want to burst out crying even more. "Is uh something wrong?"

"No." I don't even look up at him.

"You sure look like there's something uh wrong with you." I can see him in the reflection of the table lean across and intently study me.

_How irritating pretend to care when you really don't…I accept the craziness, the stealing, the murdering even…but not that. _My heart twinges and the tears threaten to spill over. "I'm fine." my voice cracks and I'm cursing myself for letting it.

"Laiss look at me." His voice has melted into Jack's voice. The one I know from my visions. It only causes my chest to cave slightly, crumbling a little more. I look at him and try to hide my pain, try to look solid and like I really am fine. But he's too smart for that. He can tell something is up behind my emotional green eyes. He licks his lips before he speaks. "If you're worried that I'm going to um, do anything to you any time soon I'm not. At least I will try not to." It's alarming to see Jack's expressions when he has the Joker makeup on.

"I wasn't even thinking about that." I slowly drop my eyes back down to my hands.

"Then what is wrong?" His voice gets slightly higher pitched.

I can't stand it anymore, I just shake my head and the tears start. I sit there, silently sobbing, hating myself for showing him that I cry. For letting him see me so…vulnerable. Every so often I softly shudder as I inhale, trying not to gasp and choke. I nearly go clear out of my seat when I feel him leaning down next to me and then kneel by my side. I try to scurry out of the chair but he grabs my arms and holds me there.

"Please…don't do that." His eyes are wild, helpless looking.

The tears are still slowly spilling out of my eyes. "Don't do what?" my voice cracks again.

"Don't _cry_." his eyes are extremely emotional…passionate almost.

"What? Why?" I say trying to loosen my arms from his grip. This only makes him clamp down more on my arms.

His eyes flutter for a minute as he speaks, and his voice is like a growl. "Because it drives me…_crazy_." My heart skips a few beats as he's speaking, my face flushes slightly.

He lets my left arm go but keeps an iron grip on my right arm, and reaches into his pocket pulling something out. I make a noise that sounds like a controlled panic stricken moan, and start struggling. I figure he's pulling out a knife. I'm shocked to see its just a wad of tissues. Slowly he sets them in my lap, lets my right arm go, and takes a tissue off the top of the wad in my lap. I jump slightly when he reaches up with the tissue and starts drying my face. _What…what the hell is he doing…the Joker isn't suppose to act like this…is he? _The entire time he's drying my face he's looking at it as if he's never seen a face before. Like a baby looking at something very interesting for the first time. He throws the dirty tissue on the table and gets another one and starts tenderly wiping it over my face, tracing over my features delicately with his fingers. I just sit there, mesmerized by his actions and expression. My heart is beating so fast I'm trying not to hyperventilate. I've never had someone this close to me. Not like this. Slowly he reaches up with his gloved hand and cups my little face in his hand. I just sit there with wide eyes, trying not to scream or faint. I can feel my entire body shivering from the closeness. Neither one of us hear the crowd of people behind us. They are all shocked by what they see too. They stand there looking at each other and at us.

"Well isn't _that_ sweet!" Morgan's harsh voice cuts thru out tender moment and makes us both jolt. The Joker stands straight upright with, if I didn't know any better, an embarrassed look on his face. I just sit there, knowing that there are a bunch of eyes burning into me right now.

"This is Laiss everyone...Laiss this is everyone." He says as he sits back in his seat.

I hear a few hello's and hi's, but most of the people stay silent as they walk around to their chairs and sit down. The entire room fills up with mostly women in robes, who are all staring at me with jealous eyes. I keep my eyes cast down into my hands until a plate of food is set in front of me. I look up and it's a male waiter and I thank him. He smiles at me and says you're welcome. I manage to peek up and notice that no one is sitting remotely near me or the Joker. The closest one to us is Morgan who is sitting directly across from me, glaring at me with daggers in her eyes.

"Eat Laiss." The Joker leans over and whispers to me, no one else hears him but Morgan and I, and she scoffs.

I look up at my plate, delighted to see lemon pepper chicken, with a side of herbed couscous, and some green beans. I slowly put the napkin on my lap and pick up my fork and start eating.

"Should you cut it up for her?" Morgan whispers sneering at me. The Joker shoots her a nasty look before continuing eating. I just drop my eyes and eat my food.

Thankfully, the waiter brought me soda when he brought my food, and I drink it down. The waiter comes by immediately and fills it up. I finish my food and push my plate away slowly as to not draw any attention to myself. I just sit there staring down at my hands, trying not to notice how silent it is, save for a few whispers here and there. The feeling of eyes on me is almost unbearable. _This reminds me of my first day at school…at least that turned out alright…sort of. _I sit there remembering my first years at school. I was a social outcast. Only friend I had was Sadie. She was my best friend since I could remember when. I miss her something fierce right now. Even now in high school I'm a social outcast. I have a few more friends now, but I'm still my shy quiet self. I'm not a popular preppy girl. I don't do school sports. I do have all the guys chasing after me for dates because according to my junior year book, I'm the most desirable girl in the entire school. I bet that has to do with the fact I'm a freak of nature and have a supernatural power over men. I always knew I wasn't meant for normal life, for a normal world, for a normal…man. I slowly glance up at the Joker who is taking a drink out of his glass. My eyes on him cause him to choke on his drink and I drop my eyes back down. It's damn near impossible to catch the Joker by surprise but I seem to excel at it.

"Oh isn't that sweet." Morgan whispers again. "The lovebirds are shy of each other. Why don't you bang her like you did us and get it over with already?"

Morgan's words stab into me like knives. I cringe and try to hold the crumbling hole in my chest together. I squeeze my eyes shut and wrap my arms around myself. I don't want to remember what those women said, not after the tender moment we just shared. Or was that all just part of his plan to get me to trust him? I'm so confused.

"That's enough _Morgan._" The Joker's hissing voice gets everyone including me to look at him.

I sit for the rest of the time looking down into my hands, trying to fight back the tears teetering in my eyes. When I hear him slide his chair out, I look up but only slightly to see what he's doing. Everyone else seems preoccupied eating still thank heavens.

"Come on Laiss." He leans over slightly and whispers to me. "You need another shot its been about an hour now."

I don't look up but slowly rise from my chair. All at once, all eyes are on me. I wish I could turn invisible. Or be able to shrink. I just want to crawl under a dark rock somewhere. I just keep my head down. The Joker walks by me and holds his hand out for me to take it. I don't even hesitate and take his hand letting him slowly lead me out of the room. When I do take his hand, I hear a few gasps, and a bunch of under the breath name calling. _Wow they must really hate me_. We finally clear the dinning area, and I feel a huge surge of relief and happiness. My feet slightly float off the ground and I let out a small squeak still attached to the Joker's hand. He turns around and notices I'm floating and his eyes bulge slightly. He still holds my hand as if I were a balloon that will fly away if he lets go.

"Laiss!" His surprised tone is so…refreshing.

"I…I didn't mean to! I can't get down…" I say swinging my feet. I'm roughly a foot off the ground, now level with his height.

"It's ok. This is fantastic!" He's looking at me with his head turned to the side. He's marveling at me, and my growing powers. "Can you go higher?" His request is odd.

"Um I can try." I say willing myself up. I grab his hand tighter, and to my amazement, his feet come off the ground. His face explodes into a giant Joker smile, and he starts laughing as we float up about five feet in the air. I smile at him as I reach my other hand out for him. He's still laughing as he reaches out and takes my other hand. "I got you, I won't let you fall."

"I sure uh hope not!" his laughter draws attention to the crowd in the dinning room.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!!!" Morgan's screeching voice scares me right out of the air, I go tumbling to the ground with the Joker behind me. He almost lands on me but manages to catch himself.

"Oh, oh my God, I'm so sorry!" I say getting up and trying to help him up.

He slaps me away and runs over to Morgan grabbing her by her arm and shaking her roughly. "You could of killed us Morgan, what are you screaming about?"

"That…that _thing_ could kill you or escape or worse Jack!" Morgan reaches over to the Joker and lays her hand on his chest. "All would be lost if we lost you." When her hand makes contact with him, for some reason my blood boils. I know Morgan senses it because she looks sideways at me and smirks. Before I know what I'm doing, Morgan goes smashing off the wall and slides down. "Oh that was a _big _mistake BRAT!!!"

My face drops when I feel it. I can feel the energy coming from her, pushing on me. But it does nothing. Her face contorts as she screams out of frustration, she knows she can't battle my powers. She comes running at me and grabs me by the shirt ripping it as she yanks me up. My toes are barely brushing the ground. Morgan is a big woman and I fear physically I'm no match for her. Slowly the Joker comes into my line of sight. He reaches up and grabs Morgan's arm and crushes it glaring at her. She screams in pain and drops me. She looks up at him and hisses.

"What did I tell you about manhandling her?" his voice is dangerous as he steps in front of me.

By this time, a crowd has gathered around us. I finally see men standing around, I assume they must be his goons. I didn't notice them in the dinning hall. They all must live in the same house with him as well as all these female string walkers.

"If I didn't know any better Jack, I'd say you really were in love with her." Morgan stands up facing him rubbing her arm.

"I told you not to call me that woman!" He hisses out reaching into his pocket and whipping out a knife. When Morgan sees the knife, her face becomes frightened. "You look nervous Morgan, is it the scars? Wanna know how I got'm?"

"No don't." I softly lay my hand on his shoulder and he spins around making me jump.

The soft look in my eyes melts his crazy rampage, and he puts the knife back in his pocket. I shrink back as he forcefully grabs me by my arm. I wince in pain as he drags me down the halls back to his room. He shoves me inside and slams the door behind us. He walks over to the giant mirror and turns to the left of it and starts clanking bottles together. I see him pull out a needle and my heart beats a little faster. I back up and walk into the bathroom and start brushing my teeth. He slowly creeps up behind me while I'm brushing and I hold one finger up as if to say just a minute. I finish brushing while he's staring at me. I turn to face him and stick my left arm out for him. He grabs it very forcefully which causes me to let out an involuntary 'ouch' and he growls at me. He sticks me with the needle and forcefully pushes the liquid into me. This liquid hurts worse, and is much different than last time. I drop to the floor, writhing in agony. He grumbles to himself and picks me up with one arm, carries me out to the bed and throws me on it. I let out a loud groan as I hit and slowly move my head up to a pillow to lay down for a minute. My head starts spinning worse than it ever did before, and my insides are on fire. He flops down and sits on the bed and puts his hand on his forehead. He's sitting there hunched over, mumbling to himself.

"I'm sorry…" I peep out. He spins around and looks at me and his eyes soften when he sees me so weak looking.

"It wasn't your fault. Morgan is, well she's an idiot." He says shaking his head while he's looking at me. "Unfortunately I uh need her around." He says rolling his eyes and looking back towards the door.

My eyes roll back into my head and I close my burning eyes. "I meant I'm sorry I dropped you…"

I hear him sigh and slip off the bed. I hear the bathroom door click shut and can hear him moving around in there. Then I hear the water turn on in the shower. I just lay still for a few minutes, trying to stay awake. I lean up slowly and brush out my hair shoving my brush back into my pocket. I flop back down on the pillow curling up on my right side to face the bathroom. It's so comfortable in this bed, like sleeping on a cloud. It reminds me of my grandmothers davenport. My head jerks up when the door to the room opens. A blonde haired female in a black robe walks in the room looking around. She spots me and walks over to me.

"Where's the Joker?" She whispers to me. Her demeanor and tone of voice is a thousand times friendlier than Morgan's. Her eyes are green like mine, but they are darker colored.

"In the shower…I think." I slur out.

Her face blushes slightly. "Oh. Well could you tell him that I said everything is ready for tonight."

"I sure will." I say weakly smiling up at her. "Who should I say told me that?" I'm attempting to find out her name.

"My name is Angelina. It's really nice to finally meet you. I mean up close." She seems very close to my age. Maybe a year or two older than me.

"Nice to meet you too Angelina, but I don't think everyone shares the same sentiment." I say sighing.

"Don't mind them, especially don't mind Morgan. They'll get over it. They are all this way when someone new comes into the house. It's nothing personal. Soon you're just part of the gang." She smiles when she says the word gang.

"Huh…" I say weakly.

"Are…are you alright?" She says leaning down to look closer into my face.

"Just a little woozy from whatever it is they keep injecting me with." I say fluttering my eyes.

"It's strange that they are giving you injections. They never did that with any of us." She says shrugging.

"Maybe it's because I'm a golden string walker. I honestly haven't a clue why. I don't even know why I'm here."

"You don't know why you're here?" Angelina smiles slightly and I shake my head no. She blushes slightly and bites her lip. "Isn't it…obvious?" She raises both eyebrows at me as if I'm going to get it. I just shake my head no again. "The Joker is…well he's a man…and he has needs…and he likes to keep a lot of women on hand for those needs and well you're the newest addition to the um, selection." I bolt straight up in the bed and sit up which causes my head to spin wildly.

"W-what?? You mean he…you and him have…?!" She's shaking her head yes. "So you mean that's all we are is…??" She starts shaking her head.

"Well that's not _all_ we're here for. He has an infatuation with string walkers. Or other girls with special abilities. He likes to use us to tell the future, or walk thru bank walls, or blow things up. Some of us even get to mess with Batman!" The last part she says with excitement in her voice. I'm just sitting there, mouth open, head buzzing, trying to make sense of it all. "Odd though…" she sets her left hand on her hip and turns her head towards the shower. "You're the first one he's ever done that too and you're the first golden string walker he's ever had around…"

"First one he did what too?" I say nervously eyeing the bathroom.

She looks at me and her eyes sparkle. "He's never…been that um affectionate with anyone. That thing he did with the tissue…and the way he was looking at you…" She wraps her arms around herself and giggles softly. "I wish he'd look at me like that."

"But you said you've…had sex with him?" I say confused.

"Oh well yes I have…" She says dropping her arms. "But it was just…wham bam thank you ma'am. There was no emotion involved. It was just that…sex." She drops her eyes and sighs. "Most people that come anywhere near him for any reason even if he's the one coming near…get stabbed, or hit…or shot." My memory pulls up the young boy Matt from the roller rink and I shudder.

"This is all just so…overwhelming and confusing." I flop back on the bed. "I mean, I was told by the council that I'm his mo anam cara…but now I find out I'm just suppose to be an addition to some sort of harem…Ugh Batman is probably out there wondering what happened and tearing his hair out looking for me…I didn't think I'd have to loose my virginity to save two worlds…ughhhh…." I let out a growl like moan and shove my face in the pillow.

"Wait wait…" Angelina's tone tells me she's confused. "You saw the council? As in the High Council here in Gotham?" I peek up at her and shake my head yes. "And they said you are his mo anam cara? And Batman is out there looking for you? You know Batman??" I shake my head yes again. "And you're a…_virgin??" _ She whispers the last word excitedly, and I shake my head yes and roll my eyes. "Oh crap!" She says biting her lip.

"What?" I say rolling on my back to look at her.

"That _is_ all so…confusing!" She giggles and so do I.

"I told you it was." I run my hand down my face.

"I'm starting to see why he was in such a hurry to get you and why he went after you in the first place…something much more going on here than we all know apparently…the two worlds need to become one." I roll my eyes and groan at the thought. "I'm worried now." She says looking at the bathroom again.

"About what?"

Her face flushes deep crimson and she looks down at her feet. "You're a virgin…" She gives me a sympathetic look.

"Why would that worry you?" I'm confused again.

She smiles and tries to stifle a giggle. "Well, the Joker is…um well he's…kinda…" I'm raising my eyebrows at her as if to say go on. She closes her eyes letting a smirk spill out across her face. "He has a huge…" I cut her off.

"Oh…Ohhhh…OOOHHHHHH!!!!!!" I sit straight up when I realize what she's getting at. "No…" I breathe.

"Oh yeah." She says putting her hands up and holds them about a foot apart indicating the size of his, well you know. Then she takes both hands and makes a circle that's about two inches in diameter and smiles. I shriek slightly and throw my hand up over my mouth and she giggles. "Yeah, and he's a total um maniac in bed too, total animal…so um yeah I'm _really_ worried for you."

"Oh you can't be serious!" I whisper out. My heart is starting to beat faster, and my head is spinning. She shakes her head yes with her eyes popped and her lips puckered inwards. "I'm going to die." I say softly. She just nods her head and says mmmhhmmm.

We both jerk and let out small screams when we hear a loud THUD from the bathroom. "Um I'm gonna go. Just tell him what I said. It was nice meeting you Laiss." She says backing up.

I nervously eye the bathroom. "Nice meeting you too Angelina."

I know my face is going from red to white and back again. She leaves the room and clicks the door shut. I sit there for what seems like an eternity, contemplating if I should make a break for it now, or later. I know the drugs will drop me fast if I get too excited or if I move too fast. The bathroom door comes open making me jump slightly. I quickly lay back down and roll to my left. _I don't want to see him. I'll go insane. I will scream in his face. Now I'm thinking about his…oiy…_I squeeze my eyes shut and bite my lips. (A/N: Oiy is just an expression, kind of like saying ugh.)

"Laiss?" His voice behind me sends a jolt thru me. "Are you uh awake?" I hear him walk over towards the bed.

_Don't scream…don't run….stay calm…calm thoughts….OH GOD HE HAS A HUGE COCK, OIY DAMN IT!!!_ My heart starts thundering in my chest and my head spins wildly. When I feel his hand come to rest on my shoulder I bolt up out of the bed, scrambling wildly to get away from him. Before I even get off the bed, I'm seeing stars. My feet no sooner touch the floor and I pass out. When I come to again, I'm looking up into the face of Jack Napier. His hair is still wet from his shower, his face is absolutely glowing, and his skin is still warm and damp.

"Are you alright?" he whispers with a concerned look in his eyes.

I've never seen him without his makeup on and it's frozen me in shock. I saw fleeting visions of it, and my visions did no justice for the stunning breathtaking beauty of it. It certainly never prepared me for…this. I can see every feature, every detail, in crystal clarity. He's absolutely gorgeous. Untouchable by someone like me. I feel so small right now, so terribly small and so utterly worthless. It makes me wonder what in the hell he would cover up such outrageous fantastic beauty with makeup. Or what the hell he would want with me when he's this…sexy. His scars are like icing on an already perfect cake. They make him look surreal, sensual, truly exotic.

"Laiss??" I'm still gawking at him in wide eyed splendor.

When he shifts slightly I bolt up out of his arms, missing his grasping hands only by a hair. I skidder backwards and steady myself on my feet standing about five feet from him. When I see what he's wearing- or rather not wearing-I stop breathing. He stands up, and all he's wearing is a long bright red towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes are going to fall out of my head any minute from being bulged like this. I can't even run or scream, my mouth just hangs wide open. I don't even shake like I normally would. If there ever was a perfect male body, this would be it. I've seen tons of dudes without their shirts on, and I've seen totally naked dudes. Nothing in this world or mine compares to him. No man could come close to this perfection. His entire body is perfectly sculpted. His skin is tanned and smooth, glistening slightly from the shower. I have never seen muscle structure like this. He is very tall and long, but very muscular. His shoulders look so kissable, so well rounded and strong. His waist tapers down into his waist subtly, and I can see a slight V near his lower abdomen. There isn't a trace of fat on him. I don't even want to see the bottom half if the top half is this sexy. If he drops that towel I swear I'll faint and melt away into a puddle. All I see are his huge feet, and even those are perfect. And apparently what they say about a man with big feet is true.

"You ok?" When he speaks, I realize I've been holding my breath and let out a stunted gasping breath.

I give a quick little nod, eyes still bugged out of my head and mouth still opened. I must look hilarious standing here like here like this. I think it finally dawns on him that I've never seen a guy this naked this close before in real life, and gets a huge smile on his face. His beautiful smile puts the suns light to shame. His teeth are shock white, which is startling considering they are always that dingy sickly yellow color. He must do something to them to make them look like that.

"Like uh what you see?" His familiar phrase from when we first met catches my face on fire and I feel it flush a deep red.

I jerk my eyes to the floor and look away from the God that stands before me. "No. Its just I've never seen you….without…" my voice is wavering.

"Without the makeup?" he says softly. I just nod my head. "Most people have that same uh reaction. No idea why either." The sarcasm in his voice is killing me.

_No idea why indeed…he's drop dead fucking gorgeous with the makeup on as it is...but holy fucking CHRIST without it on…_I feel my heart jump slightly in my chest and it causes me to softly gasp. My head is spinning and my heart is pounding so loudly in my ears they start to ring. I don't even notice he's walked up in front of me.

"I have to admit, I have never seen someone have such an uh _extreme_ reaction." His voice directly in front of me makes me jerk my head up and gasp as I start slowly backing away from him, mouth open. He cocks an eyebrow at me, smirking as he follows me.

"S-sorry…it's just…" I'm starting to get lightheaded, and don't realize I'm running myself directly into the wall.

"It's just…what?" he whispers, still coming towards me.

"It's just um…" I'm at a loss for word as our pace increases, and I end up pressed into the wall. I frantically look from side to side but there's no escape. I flatten myself to the wall as much as I can ending up on my tip toes.

"Just _um_ what…?" He says coming up to me, standing less than two feet in front of me. I'm looking up at him, my lips trembling as I'm trying to find words. "I'm hideous?" He cocks his head sideways at me and smirks slightly. He's taunting me. He knows full well he's drop dead sexy the arrogant little dick, he just wants me to say it.

"No not at all…not even remotely." I'm whispering now, mesmerized by his eyes.

"Then its just, what?" He's purposely trying to get me to say it.

My face flushes red again, burning fiercely. I cast my gaze down and to the side. _He knows damn well I'm shy and skittish why is he doing this to me? _ "It's just that you're…um…really…extremely…utterly…um…"

"Yes…?" he whispers as he comes closer to me, placing his hands on the wall on either side of me, trapping me where I am. I swallow hard slowly looking back up at him as he towers over me.

And now the shaking starts. Here's the Joker- AKA Jack Napier, AKA the sexiest man alive- standing mere inches from me, undressing me with his smoldering bedroom eyes, smirking at me with that damn smirk of his, completely and utterly naked except for a towel around his waist…yeah I'm _so_ going to faint or die any second now.

A knock on the door from behind us causes us both to jerk, but neither of us move out of our positions. I hear the door open and someone walks in. From behind us, Morgan appears.

"Jack?" She's standing there with her arms crossed looking very irritated.

"I told you never to call me that woman. What do you want?" He says to her, still gazing into my eyes. "Can't you see I'm a bit uh busy here?"

"Um, it's almost time to go. Do you think you can pull yourself away from _her _for a minute to go take care of business?" I can see the burning hate in her eyes for rolls his eyes and moves away from me to turn and face Morgan.

"Oh alright fine!" he grumbles as he walks towards the closet.

Morgan shoots me a nasty look before she leaves. When I'm alone I come off the wall and let out a huge sigh of relief. My heart is still pounding, head still spinning, knees still wobbling. _That was close. Way too close._


	13. what's with all the business associates

Ok so as promised, this story is going to start zipping on by. And I would like to thank a certain reviewer (you know who you are lol) for asking me to include a certain someone in this story. It gave me the most wickedly horrible idea for where to take this story. It will still have the same ending I had in mind, will still have all the components I wanted to add to it, just with some more twists and shocks. I'm warning all of you, its going to get darker. Much darker. But believe me, its going to be worth it. And don't worry, what you asked for is coming my dear. Chapter 15 mentions it at the very end, and I do believe it's coming in Chapter 16 which I'm working on right now as I'm writing this little message.

And I know this particular chapter is a bit, uh, school girlish and wonky. Kind of hard to swallow. Some of the chapters end up like that. Just bear with me, its going to get better.

* * *

"You uh, might wanna get dressed." He says stepping out of the closet. He's dressed in his Joker clothes again.

I'm sitting on the bed trying to calm myself down. "Why?"

"Because we have to go see some friends, some very important friends. And I need you to be presentable." He says making his way over to the mirror and fluffing his hair out.

"But I am dressed…" I say confused.

He smirks at me while he's running his hands through his still wet hair. "I mean…I need you to be black tie presentable. Not that you don't look sexy in that little uh outfit." He says looking at me with that damn wolf look of his. "I recommend the uh black cocktail dress, not that I know anything about fashion." He says putting his arms out and twirling around to face me.

I just sit there and stare at him as he walks to the bathroom. He doesn't close the door, and my curiosity gets the better of me. I peek in at him so that he can't see me. He's sitting on a stool rubbing white face paint on his face. I decide to get dressed while he's busy primping in there so he doesn't decide to come watch me get dressed. I walk into the closet and click the light on and search through the clothes. I come across about fifty black cocktail dresses, and roll my eyes. _Smart ass._ I settle on the one that is more modest, even though the entire back of the dress is missing from the back of my neck to the top of my crack. At least this one has sleeves and isn't halter style on the top. Its also floor length, but has a slit up the side almost to the hip. It comes up around my neck and had three diamond buttons on the back of the neck. In the front of the dress, there is a heart shaped hole, just large enough to show cleavage. I slip it over my body and take a look at myself in the mirror. All in all, a very beautiful dress. I decide its probably best to change out of my bra, and I let it go fluttering to the floor. I blush when I see myself in the mirror now. This dress looks as if it was tailored for only me to wear, as it sits gently on all my curves making them stand out like never before. My nipples are poking thru the front of the dress, and people are going to get quite the eyeful of my cleavage as well. I grab some nylons out of the drawers and slip them on. I find some little black shoes that are in here, with a ridiculous three inch heel. I decide that if I break my neck in them, oh well. I slip them on my feet and walk out. I peek out around the closet door and see him standing near the bed looking down at his feet with his hands in his pockets. I stand here for just a moment, watching him. _He's just so cute._ I smirk to myself. When I walk out of the closet and catch his eye, he blinks a few times. Now its his turn to be shocked at the sight of me. He just stands there with his mouth open. I slowly walk over to him smiling. Deep inside of myself, I can hear a strange screaming. As if this all isn't…real. As if this body isn't mine. I'm not acting anything like myself. I just shrug if off.

After a minute of him just gawking at me, he finally clears his throat. "I uh need to give you a few shots before we go."

"Ok." I don't mind the injections. The Joker is surprisingly gently when he gives shots, and the more of them I take the more I like the drugs. "Oh by the way…" I say as he's walking to his table near the mirror. "Angelina stopped by while you were in the shower. she said everything is ready." I try not to remember everything else she said for fear I might start screaming.

"Excellent." I can hear him clinking around. "Come here." I don't hesitate but I walk over to him and hold my left arm out for him. He rolls my sleeve up and gives me the first and familiar black liquid. When he comes at me with the second one, I break his concentration. This one is shock neon blue, and looks thicker.

"What's this one for?" He looks up into my eyes and I can tell he doesn't want to tell me.

"Basically the same thing the other one is for." he whispers starting to inject me. He comes up with another needle filled with a red liquid, and then one filled with clear liquid. By the time he's done, I can barely stand. "Are we ready?" I just make a soft grunting noise and he takes me under the arm. "Easy now." I can barely drag my feet to walk. My muscles feel as if they will slip off my bones, my mind barely is functioning. Time seems to stop, or speed up I don't know which. "One more uh thing…" The Joker says reaching up around my neck. I just stand there as he slowly reaches around and unbuttons my dress.

"What're you doin…" I can't barely move my jaw to talk. I try to struggle away but I'm so weak I can't even control my movements.

He smirks slightly as he places something around neck and clicks it into place. I reach up and he pushes my hand away from it. "Ah ah now, no touching that." He buttons the back of my dress up being careful not to catch my hair.

"What's it?" I can't even talk right.

"It's just a little uh device to keep _Batsey_ from finding you." His eyes cloud over when he says that. When he has his makeup on, its as if he's a completely different person.

"Oh ok." I say sleepily as he takes my arm up through his and leads me out the door. I'm lead outside and its now night time out, and I can see fireflies dancing all over the lawn. I can see trails behind them as they float this way and that. I look up as we are walking and I can see out past the front gates. There is a black SUV waiting for us, and I can barely make out someone standing near it. When we get closer I realize its Morgan and she rolls her eyes at me. I can see two men in clown masks in the front seats. I notice there are other vehicles behind this one, but I can't make out what types. He opens the rear passenger side door and slowly sets me in. I sit here for a moment and can hear Morgan whispering heated words to the Joker. The door whips open and the Joker reaches in and pulls me out of the vehicle and I stumble to my feet.

"Do I uh look like a hairdresser to you?" The Joker shoves me towards Morgan.

She snarls at me and walks around back of me. I didn't notice it before, but she had a large black bag in her hand. She slams it down on the roof of the vehicle, and I can see the Joker's eyes on her as he's licking his lips. She walks up behind me and when her hand goes to touch my hair with a brush, she is unable to touch me.

"She won't let me touch her. I told you you're going to have to keep your _animal _on a leash."

The Joker steps up in front of me and puts his hand under my chin gently lifting my face up to look at his. "Laiss, can you be a good girl and let Morgan do your hair for you? Hmmm?" his voice is hypnotic, so strange that I can hear his voice clearer than anything else.

He steps away and nods to Morgan. She brushes my hair out gently under the careful watch of the Joker's eyes. One wrong move out of her or one tiny grimace or ouch out of me and I'm pretty sure he will give her another scar. She reaches into the bag and rustles around. I can feel her putting my hair up into a giant French braid that cascades down my back.

"Thank you Morgan." I whisper out. She just scoffs at me.

The Joker opens the door and gently guides me in to the vehicle. He shuts the door and walks around to the other side along with Morgan. She opens the door and gets in behind me in the third seat and he slides in next to me.

"Drive." He commands his men and they don't hesitate. We start driving down the street. It's extremely hard to see out the windows, and I see no lights outside the vehicle. It looks as if we are on a far out country road. I start to see images flashing in the window. I just stare at them. Strange color swirls, nothing defined.

"Your animal is at it again." Morgan whispers from the back seat.

"She's not doing anything Morgan. Shut up and relax." He snaps at her.

Morgan must be able to sense when someone is using their abilities. I'm pretty sure she has other gifts as well making her indispensible to the Joker or he would of killed her by now.

"If you're rich…why do you steal still and commit crimes and stuff?" My question is slurred and comes out of no where but I have to know. I sleepily look at the Joker.

His face breaks out into a grin and he lowers his head to look at me. He doesn't seem offended by my question, rather delighted actually. "Because it's _fun_." I just nod and turn back to the window. My eyes close and I drift off into a dreamless sleep.

"Laiss…" The Joker's voice in my ear stirs me slightly from my sleep, and I groggily look up. He's standing outside of the vehicle bent down into the door. "Come on." He says reaching in taking me by the arm and helping me out. My feet click on the ground when I step down. I don't even look up as he helps me up the stone steps beneath my feet. My heels click as I walk, a sound that is all too familiar to me but I can't quite put my finger on it. We enter a building and head through a metal detector. I still don't look up, I just listen to the strange, rhythmic clicking of my heels. The floor is generic tile, speckled with drab brown and gray colors. The air is cool and musky smelling. We walk through a door and I can hear many voices chattering to each other. Most of the noise dies down when we walk in. Seconds later, the entire room is silent. When I finally look up, my heart sinks slightly at the sight. The room is filled with old card tables, and men. There has to be at least fifty men in here. All of them look…menacing. Dangerous. Some with very dark skin, some with white skin, some with scars down there faces. Most of them have glasses in their hands filled with drinks. The smell of alcohol in the room is strong, sickening. I shrink back slightly into the Joker. A few of the men are smiling at me, adjusting the front of their pants with their hands. I can almost feel them touching me. I can hear many different thoughts floating my way, and none of it is good.

"Good evening gentlemen!" The Joker calls out. Most of them keep their eyes on me. I try not to look at any single one of them and keep as close to the Joker as I possibly can.

"So you have the girl?" A man with a thick Russian accent steps up to us. He's looking at me in the most provocative way and it makes me uneasy. He has thick greasy hair, and dark dirty looking skin. He's wearing a leather jacket with a dress shirt underneath and a pair of jeans.

"I told you, I'm a man of my word." The Joker's voice is out in full effect here.

"Very good. What can she do?" He steps closer to me and looks me up and down.

"Anything you want her to." I turn my head around and widen my eyes at the Joker as if to say _Idiot…he's going to take that in the wrong context._

"Bark like a dog." He says to me and snaps his fingers.

"No." I slur out.

"What did you just say to me you little whelp?" He steps towards me, raises his arm to hit me and I close my eyes.

"Ta ta ta ta!" I hear the Joker's voice as he yanks me back. I almost topple over because he yanked me out of the way. "She only obeys _me_." I look up at him. He slowly turns his head sideways and smirks. "Laiss, bark like a dog."

I have no idea why, but I actually let out a loud bark. The man standing there roars with laughter, and the rest of the crowd is snickering at me. _What the hell…_That's when what Shane and Elly the High Council members told me echo's in my head.

" …_**The Joker is indeed your soul mate, and he can indeed turn you into a weapon. And there are those in our world and yours that would just love for that to happen." Shane's voice is lower and more serious now.**_

"_**Do you think that's why he's after me?" I can't barely talk.**_

"_**We are pretty sure those are his intentions. If he does gain control over you that way, there will be no stopping him and his rein of chaos. You would be his personal juggernaut." Elly speaks now, her eyes more serious.**_

_So that's why I can't control myself. The Joker has complete and utter control over me. I have to get out of here. These damn drugs he gave me are kicking my ass. How am I going to get out of here, in these shoes, with all these perverts around?_

"You are indeed a genius Joker." The man speaks again eyeing me.

"I know." He says smiling a wide toothy grin. "Now, let's get down to business gentleman. Laiss will you excuse me." I just stand still, frozen. _He's leaving me here, in a room full of raging horny men. Is he crazy?!_ _Oh what a stupid fucking thing to ask Laiss…he's the Joker. _I swallow hard as they are all staring at me. I can tell they are whispering to each other, and its only a matter of time before one of them comes up to me. I cast my eyes over to the Joker who has made his way to the other side of the room and settled at a table. A few men have surrounded him as if they are in a huddle for a football game. I can faintly make out the Joker's voice as he's speaking.

"Well hi there little girl." My eyes jerk back to a man standing in front of me. He's a tall man with a crew cut. His hair is dirty blonde and his eyes are blue. When I don't answer him he gets a little angry. "I said hello."

"Hello." I respond flatly.

"How would you like to come get a drink with me and my boys? It's only over there the kitchen." My eyes flit to the dark room he's pointing to that has its door wide open.

"No thank you." My flat tone is unwavering.

"That's not very lady like." He takes a step towards me and I move slightly. "Don't be shy, we can have some real fun. I'm sure your master over there won't mind sharing his little toy." He's adjusting his cock when he says that.

"Fuck off." I say to him, and I can feel my anger rising.

"What did you just say to me?" He says and grabs me by the arm.

Before I even know what I'm doing, he is flying thru the air. He lands hard and slides a few feet. Everyone looks at me, astonished. He picks himself up and glares at me. I look over the Joker who smiles at me and gives me a thumbs up. _Fucking prick…_My anger is starting to rise more.

"You'll have to excuse Andy." Another male voice in front of me. I turn to look at it's a man only a few inches tall than me with short gray hair and light green eyes. He's wearing jeans and a white polo shirt. "He's an asshole." He smiles at me as he takes a drink. "Would you like a drink?"

"No thank you." My tone is still flat.

"Ok, just let me know if you need one. I will fix you up a good one. My name is Harold." He winks and walks away from me.

"You cause more problems then you're even worth." I hear Morgan's hissing voice behind me. I try not to look at her as she walks around in front of me.

"Laiss!" I hear the Joker call me and my head snaps to him. "Come here." I walk to him and hear a few cat calls and derogatory remarks. "That's enough boys." The Joker says glaring at them. I stop in front of him and he stands up. "Watch this." He says as he turns to me and grabs my hand. "Remember outside the dinning hall earlier today?" My mind flashes to a somewhat happy memory with the Joker when him and I were floating a few feet in the air. I nod. "Do that now for me." Before he's done speaking, we both float a few feet up into the air. I can hear gasps and cheers from the audience that is watching. "Now, set us down gently." We land delicately on the ground in the exact spot were. He turns to the men sitting there and I look at them as well. "You see boys, she has unlimited capabilities. I will be unstoppable with her by my side. She hasn't even fully matured yet. Her abilities will get a thousand times uh stronger than what you see her. The documents I have provided you from the High Council have all the information you need." He turns to me and smiles. "She is a rare treasure, and I found her." He winks at me.

"But how can we be sure she will stay under your control?" A man with skin as dark as night speaks. He's wearing a gray suit, and a pin stripped tie.

"Oh I wouldn't uh worry about that boys." The Joker breaths as he slowly wraps his arm around me. He looks back towards his men as he pulls me into his side. "She will stay under my control, she has no other uh choice. That is the beauty of all of this. I am her mo anam cara, or her soul mate. And a string walkers soul mate has an extraordinary pull on their mate." He turns slightly and whispers in my ear. "Isn't that right Laiss?"

My entire body tingles. "Yes…" The drugs and his presence make it impossible for me to have any will of my own. I'm at his total control.

"So can we have a little show?" Another man speaks. This man is also dark skinned but not nearly as dark as the first man. He is wearing a light purple suit. I don't like the way he's eyeing me.

"What did you have in mind gentleman?"

"How's about that little girl gives us our moneys worth?" He says licking his lips at me and blowing a kiss. I pull closer to the Joker and bury my face in his chest.

"Absolutely _not._" The Joker growls. I can feel everyone's fear well up. "She's not for show. She is _mine._ My little toy. Is that _clear_?" Everyone agrees very quickly to avoid invoking the Joker's wrath. "But don't worry gentleman, I didn't come empty handed." I can feel him motion towards the door. All at once the men break out into cat calls and jeers. I look up and all the female string walkers from the Joker's house come strolling in, dressed in the most revealing and sexy clothing. I had no idea he had that many of them. There are at least thirty girls. "Feel free to help yourselves to them. But no one is to lay one _finger_ on her." He growls squeezing me to his side tighter. "Meeting is adjourned. Now lets have some fun." He says walking away and leaving me there. I watch him slip out the side door and I just stand there shocked that he left me in here alone. _Does he really trust them not to touch me? Are they that terrified of him?_ _Well duh._ I smile at that. I make my way over to a corner of the room, quietly dragging a chair with me. I sit down and try not to look at what is going on in the room. They are basically all having sex right out in front of me.

"Hey." I hear a rough voice from in front of me. _Oiy good grief tell me someone isn't that stupid…_I look up and its another man from the crowd who obviously didn't hear the Joker. This one is older, with shaggy brown hair and a vertical scar that stretches from his forehead to his chin. "You look kinda lonely over here in the corner."

I cast my eyes down. "I'm perfectly content alone." My tone is flat still.

"A beautiful young girl like you shouldn't be content alone. Why don't you and I get to know each other a little better?" He shifts forward and pulls a chair up under him settling near me. "So…you're from the other world?" I just shake my head and don't look up at him. "You're a golden string walker right?" I shake my head yes. "You can look at me you know I don't bite."

I sigh. "I'd really rather not."

"Oh come on now. I just want to have some fun." He takes his hand and sets it on my knee and runs his hand up my leg. My eyes shoot up to him and I push his chair back slightly with him in it. "Oh I wouldn't try that if I were you little girl." He says slamming his chair back closer to me. "You see I'm gifted like you are. I may not be a string walker, but I have some pretty awesome powers. So don't try it." His hand is back on my knee again, forceful this time. I glare up at him and try to shove him back but he isn't going anywhere. He just smiles at me and leans into me grabbing my hip. I try to jerk but the drugs make it impossible for me to control my body. "Now…" he breathes his hot smoke smelling breath on me. "I'm going to taste your sweet little mouth…" He says coming at me to kiss me and we go toppling over in the chairs. He quickly stands up and grabs me by the neck and arm, forcing me into a dark room shutting the door behind him.

I try to scream but it comes out as a tiny little squeak. I can feel his hands all over me, groping at me. I manage to keep his hands off my breasts, and out from in between my legs, but he wraps his hands around and harshly grabs my ass and squeezes hard causing me to wince in pain. I can't even fight him off me and the harder I try to fight the more I come close to passing out because of these damn drugs. He reaches down and shoves his hand up my dress ripping my nylons off. I try to scream and he puts his mouth over mine but I break away from him and he runs his mouth and tongue down my face and neck, painfully biting me every so often. He slams me forcefully into the wall of this room as hangers clink around above us, some of them falling to the floor. He pushes my neck into the wall holding me up by my throat as he unzips his pants. I try to scream but he chokes me. I'm trying to push him off but he's just way too big and way too powerful. I can feel him using his telekinetic abilities on me to hold me back. He shoves his leg between mine and I can feel him bruising my legs as he's shoving. He flattens me into the wall and my legs are forcefully spread over his waist. I can feel his cock against my thin panties.

"No please don't…I'm a virgin." I manage to wheeze out while he's choking me.

"Not for long bitch." He says pushing my panties aside. I jerk wildly but he holds me still. He shoves the head of his cock up near my pussy. I can feel it against the side of my panties, barely brushing my pussy lips.

_Oh God….please God no….please help me….Jack….JACK….JACK…..PLEASE JACK….please help me….JACK!!! _ I picture Jack's sweet face in my mind as the tears start streaming down my face. I feel him shift forward and I can feel his cock pressed into my pussy. He hasn't shoved it in yet thank God. In my mind I'm screaming for the Joker. The tears are flowing freely from my eyes. All at once the closet door swings open and he drops me. I hit the floor and look up. The man that was on top of me slumps over falling flat on his face. There is a huge knife handle sticking out of his back, with no trace of the blade. I can barely make out the Joker standing over me. He leans down to me and kneels.

"Oh God Laiss! Are you alright?!" He whispers. "Did he…" He says eyeing my ripped nylons.

"Almost…he almost had me…I was almost…" my throat hurts from being squeezed.

"God damn son of a _bitch_." The Joker growls and kicks the lifeless corpse. He turns back to me and reaches for my nylons. I shrink back from him and he looks at me so gently. "It's ok Laiss. I just figured you'd uh want to take them off, they are in shreds and laying all over."

I shift up and pull them off, sliding my shoes off. The Joker reaches down and pulls them off the rest of the way. I put my shoes back on and he slowly helps me up. We walk out of the closet and everyone has cleared out. There is nothing left in here but trash and tables. The drugs are starting to wear off, and I'm becoming more coherent.

I can see Morgan standing there with her arms crossed waiting for us. "Clean up the mess in that closet." He says to her as we walk out to the SUV.


	14. Hello Jerrard

**WARNING: There is a sex scene in this. It's a rather graphic scene of sexual nature between the Joker and Laiss. Not as bad as the assault scene from the last chapter, but somewhat vaguely familiar. (There is an old saying, you can't rape the willing, and she's willing she just is, well nervous and frightened. Huge difference between what happened in the last chapter and what happens in this one even if it doesn't seem that way.) There's also some sexual wording sprinkled around in a few spots.**

Ew boy I'm sorry. I'm very very sorry . Someone wrote a review and said that the last part of the chapter was hard for them to read because of the sexual assault content. If it makes anyone feel any better, I had an extremely difficult time getting through that scene and had to stop and leave the room a few times while writing it. I have difficulty with assault scenes period, but sexual assault scenes hit just a little too close to home. At any rate, if there's going to be any sexual encounters or anything of sexual nature I will put a nice big warning on the top of the chapter and list what type of sexual content is going to be in the chapter, like I did with this one. I was so caught up in trying to get this story updated that I completely forgot to include a warning at the top of the chapters.

And hey hey now lol…someone is extremely intelligent for figuring out who Morgan truly is. Oh there's plenty more surprises coming up. And no, I didn't forget about Scarecrow either. He's coming. And so is batsey! This chapter is kind of crappy if you ask me. Rather fluffy and fantastical. I needed this one to bridge to the other ones. You'll see what I mean.

On a separate note, you may all be wondering why doesn't Laiss just blast the Joker into a million pieces, for which she is perfectly capable of. Or why she doesn't just high tail it out of there, something which she isn't fully capable of but could at least attempt it. Or why she's being such a…twit. If you loved someone, I mean really truly loved them with all your heart, you'd be acting the same way. True love makes you very stupid. At least of all the things in the world, I know that to be true. I'm trying to get that across in this story, the whole concept of true love completely rules and consumes you. And oh, believe me, it does.

And for crying out LOUD. I keep writing the word through, as thru. It's a really stupid habit I have. If you see the word thru anywhere in here let me know. I checked over this chapter a few times but I'm not feeling all that great right now (see paragraph below) so I might have missed a few of them or some other silly errors.

And I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner. I planned to have this all done by the end of March, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. Figures the minute I get a nice lull in work, I get sick. I've been really sick for two weeks straight now. I'm feeling better now, and will resume writing again tomorrow and over the weekend. So now that I've flapped my lips for a few paragraphs here, on with the story.

* * *

I'm sitting in the shower crying silently, curled into a ball letting the water cascade down me. I've already washed myself ten times over trying wash away the abuse I just suffered in that closet. I've never had a man that close to me before. I feel dirty, and ashamed. The drugs are completely worn off now, and I'm contemplating escaping tonight as soon as everyone is passed out. _I just want to go home…I'm not ready for all of this…_ We've been home for hours now, and it's late. Most of the girls have already filtered in the house after entertaining the Joker's associates, and have tucked themselves away into their rooms. I have eaten again and the Joker's request, and now here I sit, trying not to puke. A soft knock comes from the door.

"Please go away!" I call out. I hear silence again. He must be pacing out there, I can feel his anxiety.

After another twenty minutes of trying to compose myself, I step out of the shower, dry myself off, comb my hair out and put my powder and deodorant on. I take the blow dryer off the counter, dry my hair then brush it out. I slowly brush my teeth looking at my face. You can see where that bastard bit me.

I open the door and he's standing right there and I let out a small shriek. He just smiles at me. I walk around him to the closet, with him following me.

"Are you sure he didn't uh…"

I sigh as I'm looking thru the night clothes. "No he didn't. I told you…almost."

"How close is almost?" I stop and look at him.

"He had his…_thing_ pressed into my bare skin and was about to jam it into me when you showed up." His face becomes violent and he snorts. "You wanted to know." I had barely said two words since we left there.

He walks out and leaves me to get dressed. I smirk and tip toe into his clothes. I smirk and pull out one of his white t-shirts. I slip it on and it goes almost to my knees. I pull up the fabric and sniff it. It smells just like him. I wrap my arms around myself walking out of the closet. I can hear him in the shower again. I decide to tip toe out of the room down the hall to see if there is an room that's free that I can stay in. At the very end of the hallway there is a doorway that's opened. I peek inside seeing that no one is inside. It looks like no one has stayed in here in a while. I reach in clicking the main light on and close the door quietly behind me. The room is modest, with a nice white dresser and vanity mirror. There is a nice double bed with pink blankets and pillow cases. The curtains are pink as well. The walls are plain marble. The floor has a beautiful oriental area rug sprawled out almost the entire size of the room. Walking over I click on the lamp by the side of the bed. I notice this room also has a small bathroom attached to it, with a shower, toilet and sink. I skip back over and click the main light off. The little lamp gives the soft glow that reminds me of my lamp at home. _Home._ _School will be starting soon. Will this all just…go away? Is this the only adventure I'll ever have in my life? I probably hit my head and am in a coma. This all can't be real. _My mind is racing, and I doubt I'll even fall asleep. The bed looks so comfy though. I curl up under the blankets cuddling down. I sigh closing my eyes. So peaceful. So quiet. So nice. I lay here for what seems like an eternity.

SLAM SLAM SLAM…

I jerk up out of the bed, eyes wild. Someone is smashing the bed room door up the hallway from me. I slip out of bed, tip toe to the door, place my ear up against the door and listen. I hear a door open.

"Where is she!" The Joker snarls at whoever it was that opened the door.

"Well hello there, where's who?" I can hear Angelina's sleepy voice followed by a few giggles.

"What's going on?" I hear more voices, more doors opening. I can hear giggling and cooing.

"You know very well who Angelina!" I hear her grunt as he slaps her. I gasp slightly. I really hope he didn't hit her in the face.

"I-I swear I haven't seen her!" Her small voice is wavering.

"No me either."

"Don't look at me I have no idea!"

"I swear I haven't seen her." The chorus of voices goes quiet and I hear someone whispering something. I can hear numerous footsteps coming towards my door. My eyes get wide as I back away from the door. _Oh shit…busted._

_**SLAM SLAM SLAM**_

When he knocks on the door I almost jump out of my skin throwing my hands over my mouth so I don't scream. My heart starts pounding again, this reminds me of the time I was in the closet with Sadie. The door knob turns, starts to rattle when it doesn't open. I had locked the door behind me out of habit.

"Open this door right _now._" The Joker's voice is harsh, dangerous.

I swallow hard, turning the lock. The door immediately swings open. Standing outside the door, is Jack Napier. In nothing but a towel. Fresh out of the shower. Hair glistening and wet. Skin glowing. Muscles twitching with every small movement. I stop breathing again. Behind him is an army of girls of all different ages, looks, and sizes. They all have mixed looks. Some look pissed, some look giddy seeing him like this, some look tired. Most of them are dressed in a whole lot of nothing, wearing just their underpants and slinky tank tops.

"And what do you think _you're _doing??" He snaps at me.

I let out a burst of air. "I…I was just…there was no one in here I figured I could sleep in here."

"Is…is that one of my shirts?" He says raising an eyebrow looking down at what I'm wearing. All the girls gasp and have this ut oh look on their face. I fear I'm in for it.

"Um…yes…sorry I just…I'll take it off if you want." I don't even realize what I just said. His face curls up into a wicked smile as he drops his head, giving me that damn wolf look. A few girls giggle at my stupidity making my face blush. I bite my lip wrapping my arms around myself.

"Come on." He says holding his hand out. "You sleep with me in my bed."

"B-ut but…but I…" I say backing up.

He drops his gaze to give me that dangerous look still holding out his hand. "Laiss come on."

"Why can't I sleep in here? I mean there's no one in here…I really don't think…" He walks closer to me and I shrink back.

"Laiss come on." He repeats it very slowly, very roughly.

All the girls are looking at each other, whispering. I look at his hand then back into his eyes. He smacks his lips at me and gets a devilish grin. "Or should I drop the towel?" This makes the girls break out into fits of giggles, and soft cheers. My eyes bug out and my mouth comes open. I can feel my face flushing bright red again. I reach up slowly taking his hand. He turns around and walks in front of me. The girls part for us to walk through. I can feel them staring at me.

"Get back to bed all of you." He yells over his shoulder at them.

They all scurry into their rooms and I hear doors quietly shutting, inside the girls are giggling and talking now. He leads me to the bedroom and lets me go in first. I walk over to the bed and sit down. _Oh I don't even believe this._ I look up and he's gone in the closet getting dressed. I put my head back down. I hear him walk out of the closet. I'm afraid to even look at what he might of dressed himself in. Lord only knows what he sleeps in. _What if he sleeps naked_…I cringe. He walks in front of me and stops. I can see his feet and the bottoms of his legs. I slowly trace my eyes up his body, up his muscular calves, to his shorts he's wearing. They are silky, sapphire blue. I try not to dwell my eyes too long on the huge bulge in his crotch. _Big cock….very fucking big cock….Jesus Christ…_I quickly jerk my eyes to his face.

"It doesn't bite you know." He smiles looking down at his cock.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try not to look at him. I hear him giggle as he walks off to his table. I can hear bottles clinking again. I look up and see that he's going to give me another shot.

"Is that really necessary?" I say to him.

"Why yes, yes it is." He whispers, walking back over to me holding out his hand.

"Please no." I whimper.

"Come on, I'll sleep better. Unless you prefer that I can't sleep…" He shakes his eyebrows at me, clicking his tongue. _Pervert. _I give him my right arm. "That's a good girl." he slowly injects me with the medicine.

When he walks away I crawl up to one of the pillows coming to rest on the farthest corner of the bed. I'm so close to the edge of the bed if I move the wrong way I will topple out. I reach down pulling the blankets up over me. I curl myself up away from the other side of the bed. The lights click out making me whimper. A nightlight clicks on lighting up the room. _Thank God._ I feel him pull the covers down. He slides into the bed, pulling the covers around. I hear him sigh.

"Is _that_ really necessary?" he says behind me.

"I'll sleep better." I mock him. This causes him to giggle as he shifts towards me. I feel his hand on my shoulder and my eyes squeeze shut.

"Laiss…" He whispers in my ear. I mumble hmmm?. "I'm sorry. For what uh happened earlier. I shouldn't of left you alone. You're a sexy, young, beautiful girl and those men are _pigs_." I roll my eyes.

"That's an understatement." I grumble out.

"Laiss…" His breath tickles my ear causing my heart to flutter.

I don't even respond.

"Hey…"

"Yes?" I whisper.

"You look really cute in my clothes…" he whispers.

I smile, sighing slightly. The sound of his voice in my ears is making me shake worse. I can feel his heat radiating into my back. His hand slowly traces down my arm. His skin is so soft, so completely touchable. He smells so divine, like rain and woods and wicked yummy guy cologne. (A/N: LOL I seriously couldn't think of a single cologne, so insert your favorite male cologne here.) My shaking vibrates the entire bed.

"Are you…alright?"

"No." I whimper out. I want to touch him. I want to love him. I want to kiss him. _I never want this to end_. _And it will._ My chest caves in, my eyes well with tears. _He's just using me. He doesn't really love me. Yes he does Laiss…he must…no he doesn't…stop being so naïve…but he treats me better than the others….he probably treated them all like that at first…and then…_A hot tear spills out dropping to the pillow.

"What's wrong?" He whispers reaching over to run his hand down my hair. I shrink away from him, curling down into the pillow. His hand comes to my face, gently he turns my head to look at me.

"I told you not to cry it drives me…" He stops when he sees the hurt in my eyes. Slowly he runs his hand along my face wiping off the tears that have spilled. "crazy." He finishes his sentence quietly.

"This is all just a joke, isn't it?" I whisper to him, looking in his eyes.

"No Laiss it isn't." His eyes are tender now.

"You have an entire harem here, of string walkers you…you fuck them all…you're just using me. I'm just a _toy_ to you…" I start sobbing, burying my face in the pillow. His arm comes down and scoops me up. He sets me up straight sitting in front of me. He takes my face in both of his hands, looking at me intently.

"You listen to me and listen good." He gently and slowly rubs my face with his thumbs. "What I tell everyone else is a lie. I will _never_ lie to you. I will never fuck another one of those girls now that you're here. Do you understand?" The tears still spilling out of my eyes tell him that I don't. He sighs softly, his eyes take on a new look that I've never seen before. Softer, more passionate than I've ever seen. "You've changed me. Forever. When I first saw you in your house, I was-I mean I had watched you for years before but never had seen you up close." He smiles slightly. "I thought, foolishly, that I could just…deny what was happening. What was meant to be. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" I slowly shake my head. He sighs. "This is extremely difficult for me. You have no idea how…hard this is for me to tell you."

He slowly looks up at me, eyes bursting with emotion, lips trembling. "I love you Laiss."

I take in a sharp breath and my mouth flies open. "W-what?" I say wiggling free of him and start backing away.

"And you're fucking _terrified_ of me…" He whispers, his eyes getting wilder.

I slide out of the bed and eye the door. _Oh dear Lord...not this again…_

He crawls towards me on the bed and my eyes jerk back to him. "You're wearing my ring! A ring a knew about, a ring I saw in my mind years before I even knew about you. I loved you before I knew you, I loved you from lifetimes ago." He slides off the bed after me. I keep backing away from his wild eyes. "I waited so many thousands of years for you Laiss, it drove me…_insane_." He is moving towards me faster now. "And you're terrified of me!" My back slams into the wall. He is right on me, arms stretched out around me so I can't run. His eyes are completely feral.

"I can't help it. You're…you're going to break my heart. That's what all men do." Something stirs within me when I say this, and I can feel something stir within the Joker. Something very ancient, hidden deep within our souls. I see visions swirling again. I can see another man now, one that looks exactly like the Joker, minus the scars, standing in front of me now. I can see the sword on his side. His armor gleaming in the sunlight. _Emperor Jerrard_. I feel as if someone just punched me in the chest and knocked the wind out of me.

"Never! I won't loose you again Laiss_(Ishia)_." When he says Laiss, I hear Ishia mixed over the top.

"No…this isn't happening." I whisper out, trying to fight back the tears and clear my head.

The vision won't go away. I can see not only the Joker standing here, but Jerrard as well. When I look down at myself, I'm not just myself. I'm wearing a long royal purple dress and can almost feel the heavy diamond necklace around my neck. My heart is beating so fiercely. _What the hell is going on here…_Two different times are flowing thru the room. The past, and the present. Two different worlds are vibrating in sync with each other, ready to meld into one world.

"Please Laiss _(Ishia),_ don't run from me again. Please let me hold you in my arms and make love to you." The Joker's voice and Jerrard's voice are identical, swirling into one, sounding like a ghostly echo.

"No…not yet. Please not yet Jack _(Jerrard)_. I want to be married to you first before I…loose my innocence." Ishia's voice is mixed over mine now, talking to Jerrard. She is controlling me, and I'm pretty sure Jerrard has a hold on the Joker.

"Please I have to have you, I need to feel you, I need to love you. I need to give myself to you. I need you to give yourself to me." He moves closer to me and caresses my face with his hand. "Please…" He whispers leaning in to kiss me.

His lips touch mine, causing my whole body to shudder. "No…please no!" I breath out against his lips and slide away from him. I run across the room grabbing the door to open it. It's locked tight.

"Laiss _(Ishia)_!!!" He cries out making me spin around to face him slamming myself up against the door, panting wildly. He's coming across the room with his hands outstretched towards me. I flatten up against the door heart pounding out of my chest. "My heart is on fire, my very soul burns for you! _Please_ let me make love to you! Please! I promise to be gentle. I will never hurt you, I will never abandon you, I will never break your heart. I'm _your_ Jack _(Jerrard)_ forever. Please don't push me away, I've waited _so_ long for you." he's slowly coming towards me, his eyes are wild, love sick.

"No please not like this!!!" I shriek out as he dives on me lifting me on him. My hands push on his chest, I try to struggle away but he has me.

His hands are on my hips, his eyes fierce. I can feel the silky fabric of his shorts against my pussy. My face flushes. I can also feel metal from his armor pressed into me. "Please no…" I whisper out. I can feel that terribly sinking feeling again, as if I'm loosing my sanity.

"Yes…" He hisses out walking me slowly over to the bed. When he lays me down he gently falls on top of me. "Please, please don't push me away. Please love me Laiss _(Ishia)_…"

I just lay there with my arms across my chest, heart beating wildly, looking into his crazed eyes. "Please don't. I'm not ready. You promised you wouldn't hurt me!"

He slowly reaches his hand up and caresses my face. His sweet smile makes my heart twinge. "I _promise _it won't hurt. I will be oh so gentle." He runs his fingers across my lips. "Jesus _Christ_, you're so beautiful…"

"Please don't Jack _(Jerrard)_!I'm not ready please don't!" my eyes well up with tears.

"Don't _cry_. Please don't do that." I hear the Joker's voice now.

"I'm so scared…" I shudder out.

"So am I. I've never made love to a virgin…" He smiles at me as he brushes the backs of his fingers gently across my cheek.

I gasp, trying to scurry away from him. He's too quick, he's on top of me before I can even get two wiggles out. "Please no!!!" I shriek out as he pushes my arms down by my head.

"Shhhh shh shh it's going to be ok." He breathes out against my lips. The tears start when I feel him pulling his pants down by shifting back and forth. I have no underwear on. There's nothing stopping him from doing this to me. I throw my head to the side, refusing to look at him. I hear him whimper softly as he nudges my cheek with his nose. "Please look at me…"

"Please, if you love me you won't do this to me!" I whisper out not looking at him.

"I'm doing this _because_ I love you. I need to give you _all_ of me." His breath is right at my neck. He softly kisses my neck causing me to jerk. "Please look at me. I want to see your beautiful eyes while I make love to you…" He kisses my neck gently again and I let out a soft shriek from what he said.

"No please!! You promised you wouldn't…hurt me!!" I'm shuddering violently now.

This is when I feel it. It's huge, hard and so burning hot. I look down between my legs and sticking out from the top of his shorts is the biggest cock I've ever seen. I may be a virgin but I've seen porno's and naked men before, just never this close. It's pressed right into my bare pussy, twitching. I can feel my pussy flower open, getting wetter. I let out a chattering repeating chorus of no's, while trying to figure out what in the name of all that is holy is going on with my body.

He groans loudly when he feels my pussy swell up and get wet. "Jesus…" He breathes out sliding his hips forward. I can feel the head of his cock slip ever so gently between my pussy lips, not penetrating me. All it would take is one shove, and I'd be impaled on it.

"N-no!!! Please!!! You promised!!! I'm not ready!!!" I cry out trying not to move my hips, but at the same time trying to shove myself upwards. (A/N: Quite the comical situation, if you have a twisted mind that is.)

"I want you Laiss _(Ishia). _I love you so. Please look at me. Please love me, I'll be _so_ good to you…" His hips rock forward slightly and I manage to wiggle away. His cock stays right where it was, and doesn't go in.

I stop struggling and just go limp under him. The hot tears flow from my eyes, and I lay there trying not gasp too loudly from sobbing. _He's going to have sex with me whether I like it or not._ (A/N: Notice, she didn't even think the word 'rape' or even say that…she wants it she's just, well like I said at the beginning, nervous and frightened and a wee bit self-conscious.)_I might as well just let him do it and get it over with so he can abandon me. _When I think the word abandon it's as if someone just stabbed me in the heart.

All at once, the presence of Jerrard and Ishia are gone. "Oh, oh my God. Laiss I'm so sorry." The Joker says scurrying off me. I shut my legs and lay there on my back, sobbing. "Oh God. I'm…I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I can't help myself you drive me _insane_!"

I hear him scurrying around the room. I hear clinking bottles, shortly followed by a stinging in my left arm. I just keep sobbing, not moving. I'm so scared. So emotionally burned out. I feel another shot, and another. He gives me a total of five shots and pulls me up to my side of the bed tucking me in.

"Laiss…Laiss please look at me…" He says taking my hand up and kissing it.

My face is contorted from sobbing, and I'm still silently heaving when I look at him. When he sees my face, the pain in my eyes, his eyes well up with tears.

"Oh Laiss…" He chokes out.

He leaps from the bed and runs out of the room. I don't even ask what the hell is going on. I'm so doped now, he gave me something more this time. I roll over and grab the tissues from the bed stand, wiping my face just in time. I pass out just as soon as I'm done wiping my face.

**Warning continued: Yes I'm drawing it out, yes I'm torturing you. I'm evil like that. I'm going to have at least one person during this story squirming (in a good way) through all the chapters muhuhhhahahahahaa.**


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